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JAMAICA: 



ITS 



PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 



BY JAMES M. PHILLIPPO, 

OF SPANISH TOWN, JAMAICA, TWENTY YEARS A BAPTIST MISSIONARY IN THAT ISLAND. 




PHILADELPHIA: 

JAMES M. CAMPBELL & CO., 98 CHESTNUT STREET. 

SAXTON & MILES, 205 BROADWAY, NEW YORK. 
1843. 



C. SHERMAN, PRINTER 

19 St. James Street. 

- 1 



P K E F A C E. 



The author of the following pages, having been incapacitated for more active 
labours by protracted personal affliction, formed the resolution of employing the 
leisure which was afforded him in writing a work on Jamaica, which he ventures to 
hope will in some measure supply a desideratum long felt and acknov/ledged by the 
conductors and supporters of our various missionary societies. 

None but. the invalided missionary knows the bitterness of those feelings which fill 
the heart, when compelled by sickness to leave behind him his scene of arduous but 
happy toil, and to revisit his native shores under circumstances which preclude the 
possibility of engaging in active exertion for the promotion of that cause to which he 
has consecrated his life. In these feelings, which not all the sympathy and kindness 
of friends can wholly remove, the writer has largely shared. But should it be found 
that the present effort of his pen has in some measure supplied that " lack of service" 
which he hoped to have otherwise rendered, not only will the severity of the trial be 
greatly alleviated, but throughout his future days it will prove a source of high and 
joyous satisfaction. 

Though the manner in which he has accomplished his object will of course be 
variously estimated, he can most conscientiously affirm, that in all his statements he 
has at least endeavoured to be scrupulously correct, and to give a faithful representa- 
tion of Jamaica as it was, and Jamaica as it is. Having been a resident on the island 
since the year 1823, he has had extended opportunities of acquainting himself with 
it. And though, with regard to its past history, and present commercial condition, as 
well as some other particulars, he has been compelled to avail himself of the labours 
of the historian, yet the greater portion is the result of his own observation and expe- 
rience. He cannot but indulge the hope that the facts narrated, illustrative of the 
fervent piety, growing intelligence, and rapidly improving temporal circumstances of 
those who but a few years since not only tasted the " wormwood and the gall" of 
slavery, but who, with regard to their spiritual condition, were " sitting in darkness 
and in the shadow of death," will strengthen the hands and encourage the hearts of 
those Christian philanthropists to whose benevolent and unceasing efforts the mighty 
change is, under God, to be attributed. Nor does he feel willing to repress the 
delightful anticipation, that by these pages feelings may be awakened which shall 
ultimately contribute to hasten the arrival of the period when not only shall the blight- 
ing curse of slavery pass away from every land, but " when the knowledge of the 
Lord shall cover the earth, as the waters cover the sea." 

It may possibly be thought by some that too many anecdotes have been introduced, 
as well as too liberal a use made of the peculiarities of the negro dialect. If any apo- 
logy is required, the author begs to state that he has been governed in this particular 
not so much by his own predilections and tastes as by the advice of valued friends, 
who judged that such a method of illustrating the various topics to which attention is 
directed would be more likely than any other to interest and benefit a large class of 
his readers — an object at which he considered himself bound to aim. 

It will not escape observation that prominence has been given to the moral and re- 
ligious condition of the black and coloured population, and to the encouraging results 
of missionary efforts among them. 

To preserve the fidelity of an historical record, the author has necessarily reverted 
to circumstances of a painful as well as a pleasing character ; and if in so doing he has 
reflected upon what he regards as existing evils, it has been from a consciousness of 



vi PREFACE. 

duty, as it is by such representations that manners and customs are reformed. Most 
truly can he affirm that he cherishes no improper feeling towards the higher classes of 
the inhabitants of Jamaica ; on the contrary, it is the most sincere desire of his heart 
that her governors, senators, judges, and magistrates may be men eminent for piety 
and equity — that the higher classes of her population, as well as her peasantry, may be 
truly good, industrious, and happy — that she, as a country, may excel in all that is 
great, and noble, and distinguished — that she may ever remain connected with Britain, 
not only politically, but by ties of the warmest affection and holiest sympathies, cemented 
by the most sacred bonds that can hold society together. 

As a matter of necessity, the writer is more intimately acquainted with the progress 
of his own denomination than with that of any other, and consequently has given to it 
a more full and circumstantial account. Had it been practicable, it would have afford- 
ed him the sincerest pleasure to have embodied in his work a comprehensive statement 
of the successes and encouragements of those honoured brethren of other denominations 
whose labours have been signally owned and blessed. It is a deficiency which he sin- 
cerely regrets. But having left the island without any intention of becoming an author, 
and, perhaps, with a too confident expectation of being engaged in more active service 
during his sojourn in his native land, he did not avail himself of those sources of in- 
formation which would have been open to him, had he formed the resolution of writing 
at an earlier period ; and since thus engaged he has been prevented by a variety of cir- 
cumstances from obtaining that correct statistical information which was requisite to 
enable him to fulfil his first intention. To these causes alone is the omission to be 
attributed. Far from him be that attachment to a party which would lead him to re- 
gard with feelings of jealousy or indifference the labours of those whom, though under 
another name, he regards as brethren, and honours as the servants of Christ. He can 
truly say, " Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity ;" and 
ardently does he long for the arrival of the day which is destined to witness that delight- 
ful union of soul and effort which constituted the burden of his prayer who is "head 
over all things to the church." " That they all may be one, as thou, Father, art in 
me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us; that the world may believe that thou 
hast sent me."* 

■ Proposals for the establishment of a college on liberal and comprehensive principles, 
but designed especially for the education of the descendants of Africa in the higher 
branches of learning and science, will be found as an appendix, to which the particular 
attention of the reader is invited. 

The volume being already increased far beyond its originally intended size, in addi- 
tion to the impossibility of obtaining all the statistics necessary for the purpose, the author 
has not added the sketch of missionary stations announced in the prospectus. The 
omission, however, he flatters himself will not be regarded as important, inasmuch as 
it may easily be supplied by individual reference to the publications of each Society. 

As a Christian missionary, whose life has been spent, not in learned seclusion, but in 
the duties and incessant labours of his office, the author makes no pretensions to literary 
excellence. His aim has been to produce a work which might be interesting and use- 
ful, even without those embellishments of diction which, though ever pleasing, are not 
always necessary. As it is, he commends his volume to the attention of the churches 
and the blessing of Almighty God, as an humble contribution to the glory of Him in 
whose work he desires " to spend and be spent," and who, in the days of his flesh, 
graciously condescended to accept the services of her who " did what sie could." 

London, September, 1843. 

* John, xvii. 21. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

CHRISTIANITY. 

Its nature — Adaptation to the wants and circumstan- 
ces of the World — Its designs — Its effects — The 
future glory of the Church — Particular instrumen- 
tality to be employed — Former neglect of the 
Church — Subsequent activity — First Missionary 
Society — Difficulties and Discouragements — Future 
and increasing Success 9 



CHAPTER II. 

SKETCH OF THE ISLAND. 

Civil History and Geographical Situation — Discovery 
— Settlement by the Spaniards — Conquest by the 
British — Subsequent History 11 

CHAPTER HI. 

PHYSICAL ASPECTS OF THE COUNTRY. 

Scenery — Mou ntains — Ri v era — Springs — Cascades — 
Harbours 20 

CHAPTER IV. 

VEGETABLE AND ANIMAL PRODUCTIONS. 

Sugar-cane, Coffee, Cocoa, Pimento, Cotton — Indigo, 
Drugs, Corn, Grasses — Garden Vegetables — Fruit, 
Flowers, Trees — Animals: Wild, Domestic — Birds : 
Wild Fowl, Domestic — Fish — Reptiles — Insects 24 

CHAPTER V. 

DIVISIONS, ETC. 

Counties — Parishes — Towns — Villages — Houses ; 
exterior appearance and interior arrangement — 
Roads — Geology — Mineralogy — Soil — Climate — 
Seasons — Hurricanes — Earthquakes - - 30 

CHAPTER VI. 

POPULATION, ETC. 

Census of the different Parishes, Stock, Land in Cul- 
tivation, Agriculture, Horticulture — Improvements: 
Implements, Machinery — Present defective State 
of Husbandry — Thoughts on Immigration - 37 

CHAPTER VII. 

GOVERNMENT. 

Council, House of Assembly, Courts of Law, Laws, 
Public Offices — Ecclesiastical Establishments — 
IN aval and Military ditto — Taxes, Revenue 43 

CHAPTER VIII. 

COMMERCE. 

Shipping; Imports and Exports — Monetary System : 
Coins, Amount of Property, Aggregate Value of 
Property 47 



CHAPTER IX. 

WHITE INHABITANTS. 

Their Origin, Settlement, Trades and Professions, Do- 
mestic Habits, Dress — Social Dispositions and Af- 
fections — Manners and Customs — Education, Mo- 
rals, Religion — General Improvement - 51 



CHAPTER X. 

PEOPLE OF COLOUR AND FREE BLACKS. 

Former condition— Causes of difference of Com- 
plexion and Circumstances — Political State — Pro- 
scription from Society of White Inhabitants— Low 
State of Morals— Removal of Disabilities— Rapid 
Advancement in civilization and the Social Scale- 
Present Condition 59 



CHAPTER XI. 

Sect. 1. Political Condition of the Black Popu- 
lation. — Origin of the Slave Trade — Its Atrocities 
— Slaves, when first brought to Jamaica, and by 
whom— Dreadful Nature and Consequences of Sla- 
very as it existed in Jamaica 63 

Sect. II. Abolition of the Slave Trade. — Origin 
of the African Institution — Efforts for ameliorating 
the Condition of the Slaves — Conduct of the Jamaica 
House of Assembly — Insurrection or Disturbance 
in 1832 and 1833 — Its real Causes — Destruction of 
Mission Property— Wanton and awful Sacrifice of 
Negro Life by the Whites — Imprisonment and 
Trial of Missionaries — Their triumphant Acquit- 
tal 66 

Sect. III. The Apprenticeship System. — Its Im- 
policy, Injustice, and Cruelty— Inefficiency as a 
Preparative to Freedom — Special Magistrates — 
Excited and unsettled State of the Black Popula- 
tion as the Result of the Operation of this System 
— Representation of the State of Things by Mis- 
sionaries—Messrs. Sturge, Harvey, and others 68 

Sect. IV. Total Emancipation. — Manner in which 
it was celebrated — Conduct of the Newly-Emanci- 
pated — Conduct of the Planters— Subsequent Dif- 
ferences — Establishment of New Villages— Resto- 
ration to Harmony and Peace — General Prosperity 
and Happiness --.... 70 



CHAPTER XII. 

intellectual character of the black people 

under slavery. 

Ignorance of Arts and Sciences — Of Reading, Arith- 
metic, Mechanical Arts, Civil Polity — Alleged De- 
ficiency of Mental Capacity — Establishment and 
Operation of Schools — The Negro under Cultiva- 
tion and Freedom — Notions of his Natural Inferi- 
ority disproved — Proposal for the Establishment of 
a College — The great Importance and Advantages 
of such an Institution — Decline of Schools — Appeal 
for these objects to the British Public 75 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

SOCIAL CONDITION. 

Negro Villages in Time of Slavery — Houses — Dress 
of Slaves — Personal and Domestic Habits — Licen- 
tiousness — Polygamy — Marriage — Treatment of 
Females — Indolence — Improvement in all these 
Respects — Opening of a New Township under 
Freedom — Number of new Settlements established 
— Growing Comfort and Prosperity of the Country 
— Evidences of these results 84 

CHAPTER XIV. 

MORAL STATE AND ASPECTS OF SOCIETY. 

Different Tribes of Africans— Peculiar Characteris- 
tics of each — Immoral Tendency of their Amuse- 
ments — Funerals — Superstitions — Characteristic 
Vices — Contrast presented by the present State of 
Things — Description of a Funeral as now con- 
ducted — Causes of the late partial Revival of Obe- 
ism and Myalism— Decrease of Crime - 92 

CHAPTER XV. 

RELIGIOUS STATE, 

Sect. I. — Awful Destitution of Religion in the Island 
during the first Century of its Occupation by the 
British — Ignorance of the Black People — Idolatry 
— Superstition — Subsequent corrupted Christianity 
— Influence of Ignorant and Superstitious Teachers 
— Desecration of the Sabbath — Paucity of Places 
of Religious Worship; of Hearers — Clergy — Their 
unfavourable Opinion expressed to Parliament as 
to the Instruction and Conversion of the Slaves — 
Opinions of Infidel Philosophers - - 102 

Sect. II. — Arrival of Missionaries — Opposition expe- 
rienced — Subsequent Success — Abolition of Sunday 
Markets — Improved Observance of the Sabbath — 
Number of regular Places of Worship in 1843 — 
Number of Missionaries — Great Extension of Re- 
ligion — Village Chapels — Attendance at Places of 
Worship— Average Size of the largest Congrega- 
tions — Number of Missionaries of all denomina- 
tions — Number of Native Assistants - - 106 

Sect. Ill — Number of Members in communion with 
each of the Churches and Denominations of Chris- 
tians, and aggregate of Inquirers, &c, connected 
with each Denomination — Size of individual 
Churches — Manner of admitting Members — Wes- 
leyans, Baptists — Number added to Baptist Churches 
at one time ; in one year — Total Number added to 
Baptist and Wesleyan Churches during the last 
twenty years - 110 

CHAPTER XVI. 

religious state — continued. 

Sect. I. — Presumptive Evidences of the actual Piety 
of Jamaica Churches — Character of the Missiona- 
ries — Nature and Extent of Scriptural Knowledge 
possessed by Candidates for Church-fellowship — By 
Members in general — Manner of Admitting Mem- 
bers — Great Christian Principle and Feeling mani- 
fested by them - - . - - - 115 

Sect. II. — Description of Inquirers and Catechumens 
— Nature and Objects of their Connexion with the 
different Denominations — Usual Term of Probation 
among Baptists for Church-fellowship — Average 
Number of Exclusions — Intimate Knowledge pos- 
sessed by Ministers of the State of their Churches 
— Discipline, Faithfulness, and Impartiality of its 
Administration — Christian Consistency of Members 
— Testimonies — Investigation of Cases of alleged 
Delinquency — Church Meetings — Members Know- 
ledge of Scriptural Discipline — Distinguished Pre- 



valence of a Spirit of Prayer — Piety and Fervour of 
Social Exercises 122 

Sect. III. — Sacrifices made by Members, of Time, 
Comfort, Property, and Freedom — Persecution — 
Martyrdom — Spirit exemplified under these cir- 
cumstances 129 

Sect. IV. — Love of Converts towards each other — 
How displayed — Charity in the Treatment of Of- 
fences — Attention to Poor and Afflicted — Mutual 
esteem— Love for the Service of God's House — 
Attendance on the Means of Grace — Regard for 
She Interests of Zion generally — Attachment to 
their Ministers — Astonishing changes in Individual 
Characters - - - - - - - 136 

Sect. V. — Zeal of Jamaica Christians — Their Libe" 
rality — Their great Personal and Individual Exer- 
tions — Class and Ticket System — Its Operation in 
Furtherance of the Gospel — Great Self-devotion of 
many of the Members of the Churches — Astonish- 
ing Effects produced by their Individual Labours 

143 

Sect. VI. — Experience and Conduct of Members in 
general in seasons of calamity — On Beds of Sick- 
ness and Death — Their anxious Concern for the 
Welfare of the Churches to which they belong, and 
for the general Interests of Religion — Numerous 
Instances of Happy and Triumphant Deaths of 
Adults and Sunday-school Children - - 148 

CHAPTER XVII. 

principal instrumental causes to which these 
great results are to be attributed. 

Abolition of the Slave Trade — Effects of the African 
Institution — Of Anti-slavery and Agency Societies 
— Establishment and operation of Schools — Circu- 
lation of Bibles and Tracts — Moral Influence ex- 
erted by Missionaries — Their efforts for the Im- 
provement of the temporal condition of the People 
— Insurrection or disturbances in 1832 and 1833 — 
Establishment and Operation of Schools — Peculiar 
System of Instrumentality employed by the larger 
Churches — Spirit of Prayer possessed by the People. 
Chiefly by the preaching of the Gospel, accompanied 
by the influence of the Holy Spirit - - 153 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

increased claim of the missionary societies, es- 
pecially on the sympathies and benevolence 
OF the christian world. 

Magnitude of the objects — Past Success — Condition 
of Africa, St. Domingo, and other neighbouring 
Islands, South America — Increased facilities which 
these fields of labour afford — Sympathies mani- 
fested by the Churches in Jamaica — Demand for 
these objects on the Christian Public — Sinfulness 
of neutrality in such a cause — Motives — Way in 
which this Cause is to be especially promoted 163 



Appendix 



174 



LIST OF ENGRAVINGS. 

Heathen Practice at Funerals, - Frontispiece- 
Cocoa, or Chocolate-tree, 26 
Negro cutting Sugar-cane, 39 
Agricultural Implements, 40 
Planter and Negro-Driver, .... 51 
Mulatto and Black Female of the Upper Classes, 62 
Female JNegro Peasant in her Sunday and Work- 
ing Dress, 89 



JAMAICA: 



ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 



CHAPTER I. 

CHRISTIANITY. 

Its nature — Adaptation to the wants and circumstan- 
ces of the World — Its designs — Its effects — The 
future glory of the Church — Particular instrumen- 
tality to be employed — Former neglect of the 
Church — Subsequent activity — First Missionary 
Society — Difficulties and Discouragements — Future 
and increasing Success. 

Christianity is a system of the most 
pure and exalted philanthropy. The field 
which it is designed to occupy " is the 
world," and its object the salvation of the 
whole human race, without any distinction 
of country, condition, or character. Re- 
velation looks with' the same benign aspect 
on the sun-burnt negro as on the inhabit- 
ant of a more temperate clime — to the bond 
as to the free — to the savage as to the phi- 
losopher ; all are alike the offspring of the 
same common parent, involved in the con- 
sequences of the same apostacy, heirs of 
the same immortal destiny, and alike ca- 
pable of being restored to the happiness 
and prerogatives of their exalted nature. 
" God has made of one blood all the na- 
tions of the earth." " Darkness has cover- 
ed the earth, and gross darkness the peo- 
ple." And in that great day, when the 
purposes of God shall have received their 
full accomplishment, " a multitude which 
no man can number, out of every kindred, 
and nation, and people, and tongue," shall 
join in the eternal jubilee of the redeemed 
from amongst men. " They shall come 
from the east and from the west, from the 
north and from the south, and shall sit 
down with Abraham, and with Isaac, and 
Jacob in the kingdom of God." But, as 
there is no other name given under hea- 

a 



ven whereby men can be saved, but Jesus 
Christ, it is evident that the gospel must be 
universally diffused, and that " all nations" 
must be " subdued to the obedience of 
faith." And to this glorious event both 
promise and prophecy lead our expecta- 
tions. " I saw," says Daniel, " in the 
night visions, and behold one like the Son 
of man came in the clouds of Heaven and 
came to the Ancient of days, and they 
brought him near before him. And there 
was given him dominion, and glory, and a 
kingdom, that all people, nations, and lan- 
guages should serve him ; his dominion is 
an everlasting dominion which shall not 
pass away, and his kingdom that which 
shall not be destroyed."* 

Thus there is to be a visible and territo- 
rial, if not an actual, subjugation of the 
whole world to the power and rule of the 
Redeemer. Thrice happy and glorious 
period ! then the reign of darkness is to 
end and innocence and peace are to be en- 
throned. Innocence and peace, those bless- 
ed emblems of millennial happiness and 
glory. So will a new creation arise as from 
the ruins of the old, when the various ranks 
of being, no longer separated, shall form 
one beautiful chain of happy intercourse. 
"The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, 
and the leopard shall lie down with the kid, 
and the calf and the young lion and the 
fatling together, and a little child shall lead 
them. And the cow and the bear shall 
feed, their young ones shall lie down toge- 
ther, and the lion shall eat straw like the 
ox, and the sucking child shall play on the 
hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall 
put his hand on the cockatrice' den. They 

* Dan. vii. 13, 14. 



10 



JAMAICA; 



shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy 
mountain ; for the earth shall be full of the 
knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover 
the sea."* 

This representation of the future state of 
the world, it may be said, is exceedingly 
delightful ; but how is such a mighty revo- 
lution to be effected? It is to be effected 
by the Gospel, accompanied by the Al- 
mighty power of the Holy Spirit. " But 
how can they believe in him of whom they 
have not heard? and how can they hear 
without a preacher? and how can they 
preach except they be sent?" Human in- 
strumentality is necessary in the order of 
means for the moral renovation of the 
world. The obligations under which all 
real Christians are laid should be felt, ac- 
knowledged, and, to the best of their abi- 
lity, discharged ; for they come to them not 
simply as duties, but as commands enforc- 
ed by the example, and enjoined by the 
authority, of Christ. " Go ye into all the 
world and preach the gospel to every crea- 
ture, "j" Like the apostles, missionaries in 
every succeeding age were to be " sent 
unto the Gentiles to open their eyes, and 
to turn them from darkness unto light, that 
they might receive forgiveness of sins and 
inheritance among them which are sancti- 
fied through faith which is in Christ."^: 

It is deeply to be regretted that it was 
not until a comparatively recent period 
that Christians in general seemed aware of 
their duty towards the heathen world ; and 
thus ages were suffered to pass away, dur- 
ing which it might be said by the eight 
hundred millions of our race who every 
thirty years pass into eternity as they cast 
their eye of distraction up to the frowning 
judge, " No man cared for my soul." 

No sooner, however, did the Church 
awake from her slumbers than she clearly 
perceived her obligation : then she buckled 
on her armour, and was resolved, in the 
strength of the Lord, to take possession of 
the rich inheritance bequeathed to her. 
Hence, the formation of Missionary, Bible, 
Scriptural Education, and Sunday School 
Societies, and others of a similar nature, 
at once the ornament and glory of our land. 
Thus began a new era in the history of the 
Church of Christ. Such, indeed, on the 
formation of the first Missionary Society (in 
modern times) was the novelty of its cha- 



* Isaiah xi. 6—9. t Mark xvi. 15. $ Acts xxvi. 18. 



racter, so mysterious and powerful the dif- 
ficulties against which it had to contend, 
and such the vastness and grandeur of its 
aim, that an interest was associated with it 
unparalleled in any age since that of the 
Apostles. The object contemplated, in- 
deed, was regarded as a mighty and glori- 
ous, yet, in some respects, a dubious en- 
terprise, requiring deep reflection in the 
plan, and no small degree of wisdom, cou- 
rage, perseverance, self-denial, and simple 
yet firm dependence upon God in the exe- 
cution. In this light it was viewed by the 
agents to whom it was at first entrusted. 
" Our undertaking to India," says Mr'. Ful- 
ler, " appeared to me, at its commence- 
ment, to resemble that of a few men who 
stood deliberating about the importance and 
necessity of penetrating info a deep mine 
which had never before been explored. 
We had no one to guide us, and while we 
were thus deliberating, Carey said, as it 
were, ' Well, I will go down if you will 
hold the ropes ;' but before he went down 
he, as it seemed to me, took an oath from 
each of us, that while we lived we would 
never let go the ropes." 

Nor were circumstances more favour- 
able after the arrival of the first mission- 
aries in Bengal. " Everywhere," says 
Mr. Ward, " we were advised to go back. 
Even one or two good men thought the at- 
tempt utterly impracticable. India, in short, 
has been long considered an impregnable 
fortress defended by the gods. Many a 
Christian soldier, it has been said, may be 
slain in the entrenchments, but the fort will 
never be taken." 

Under such circumstances did the first 
missionaries enter the field. They laboured 
long and hard, and, as they had anticipated, 
against obstacles calculated to appal the 
stoutest heart ; but, having thus counted 
the cost, and recognising the principle that 
no appearances however adverse alter- 
ed their obligation, they still persevered, 
" trusting in God." 

The promised blessing was at length be- 
stowed. Barrier after barrier began to give 
way and disappear. This success produced 
a reaction upon the churches at home, and 
the heralds of salvation were successively 
multiplied. And now let us ask, what are 
the results of an enterprise, the operations 
of which were so doubtfully and almost in- 
auspiciously begun? It may suffice to say 
that the results have exceeded the calcula- 



ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 



11 



tions of the most sanguine of the friends 
of missions. Whole nations have given 
up their gods. One island after another of 
the great southern archipelago has renounc- 
ed its superstitions and assumed the Chris- 
tian name, whilst, among the habitations 
of cruelty in the West, there is kindled a 
light which the united opposition of earth 
and hell will never be able to extinguish. 
The cloud of moral darkness which has 
for ages hovered over the continent of In- 
dia has begun to retire — the spell of Brah- 
ma is dissolving — the chains of caste are 
falling ofF — the wheels of Juggernaut are 
scarce ensanguined — the horrid custom of 
self-immolation has disappeared, and the 
" sacred tide of Jordan mingles with the 
Ganges." 

From the borders of China extending 
along many of the shores of the eastern 
continent, and even to the interior of Afri- 
ca, has the light of life extended. In al- 
most every portion of the globe are church- 
es and schools rising up, the landmarks of 
missionary progress, forming a beautiful 
contrast to the surrounding barrenness and 
desolation — churches " built upon the foun- 
dation of apostles and prophets, Jesus 
Christ himself being the chief corner 
stone. " In almost every direction we 
are presented with increasingly bright- 
ening prospects. In some parts of the 
field God is not only with his servants, but 
it may emphatically be said that he has 
gone before them. The ground appears 
to be already ploughed up to their hands. 
They have nothing to do but to cast in the 
seed, and it immediately vegetates and 
brings forth an abundant harvest. All that 
seems wanted is increased liberality on the 
part of the Church to furnish more labour- 
ers to gather it in. To change the allu- 
sion, no sooner is an attack made upon the 
powers of darkness than a retreat is sound- 
ed, and all that seems required are rein- 
forcements of men and increased pecuni- 
ary supplies to occupy the ceded ground. 
Allusion is here made more especially to 
the island of Jamaica, of which, as con- 
nected with the work of God, the following 
pages, it is hoped, will furnish some inte- 
resting particulars. 



CHAPTER II. 

SKETCH OF THE ISLAND. 

Civi! History and Geographical Situation — Discovery 
— Settlement by the Spaniards — Conquest by the 
British — Subsequent History. 

The island of Jamaica is one of the clus- 
ter of islands called the West Indies, which 
extends from Florida, in North. America, 
to the mouth of the great river Oronooko, 
in South America. They are divided into 
windward and leeward, or the greater and 
lesser Antilles. Jamaica (or Xaymaca) 
is one of the latter group, and signifies, in 
the language of the aboriginal inhabitants, 
" a land abounding in springs." 

It is situated between the parallels of 17° 
39' and 78° 34' north latitude, and between 
76° 3' and 78° 34' west longitude ; 4000 
miles southwest of England ; 90 miles west 
of St. Domingo ; and 435 miles north of 
Carthagena, on the South American con- 
tinent. It is nearly of an oval form, and 
is 180 miles long, and 60 in extreme 
breadth, containing about 4,080,000 acres 
of land, or 6400 square miles. 

Jamaica was discovered by Columbus on 
the 3rd of May, 1494, on his second voyage 
to the New World. He had previously 
visited Hispaniola and Cuba. When first 
discovered by the Spaniards, the island is 
said to have been densely populated by 
Indians, a race of men (unlike the Charibs 
— cannibals who inhabited some of the 
windward islands) benevolent and mild in 
their dispositions ; of great simplicity of 
manners; and by no means unskilled m 
some of the arts of civilized life. They 
were assimilated, indeed, in these respects, 
as well as in appearance and language, to 
the aborigines of the contiguous continent. 
Sailing a southwest course from the east 
end of Cuba, Columbus approached the 
north side of the island, and being defeated 
in endeavouring to effect a landing at Santa 
Maria* (now Port Maria), by the hostile 
demonstrations of the natives, he proceeded 
to another harbour, a little to the north- 
ward, which he called Ora Cabessa, and 
there, after encountering similar opposition, 
which he subdued by discharging several 
of his arbaletes, or pieces of cannon, among 
the assailants, he planted the royal standard 
of Spain. 

* So called after th.3 name of h < first ship. 



12 



JAMAICA 



The appearance of the strangers ; the re- 
port of their artillery; and above all, the 
slaughter they had witnessed, struck the 
Indians with astonishment rtnd awe. A 
negotiation was therefore effected, and the 
invaders were plentifully supplied with the 
various productions of the island, by an in- 
terchange of presents. Here the Spaniards 
remained for about ten days, and, disap- 
pointed in their expectation of finding pre- 
cious metals, they sailed again to Cuba. 

With the exception of a simple survey 
of the coast, which he commenced at Rio 
Bueno on the 22nd June, 1494, and which 
occupied him until the 20th of the ensuing 
August, nothing further was heard of Co- 
lumbus by the natives of Jamaica during a 
period of nine years. Fortunate had it been 
for these peaceful and comparatively happy 
islanders, as well as for the Spaniards 
themselves, had this been the termination 
of their mutual intercourse ; but other 
changes and calamities awaited them. Co- 
lumbus revisited the island on the 4th July, 
1502, when, on his fourth voyage after 
having been compelled by stress of weather 
to shelter in the Isle of Pines, on the coast 
of Cuba, and after a disastrous expedition 
to Veraqua, or the island of St. Christopher, 
accompanied by his son Diego, and brother 
Bartholomew, encountering dreadful wea- 
ther, in which he lost two of his ships, he 
was driven to Maxaca, an Indian village on 
the southern coast of Cuba. Here he ef- 
fected a slight repair of his vessels, and 
putting again to sea, was driven by a vio- 
lent storm on an uninhabited part of the 
north coast of Jamaica, destitute both of 
water and provisions. To have remained 
in such a situation would have been a 
voluntary submission to all the horrors of 
famine. Although, therefore, his remain- 
ing vessels were in a foundering state, this 
intrepid mariner once more turned his shat- 
tered prows to the deep. The tradewind 
drove them in a westerly direction, and 
himself and crews being in great jeopardy 
of their lives, Columbus ran his vessels on 
the shore at St. Ann's Bay, called by him 
Santa Gloria, distinguished to the present 
time as Don Christopher's Cove. In this 
shallow bay, protected by a reef of rocks, 
and otherwise secured from the elements, 
the weather-beaten and exhausted mariners 
were afforded temporary security and re- 
pose. The natives treated them with the 
greatest kindness and hospitality, little sus- 



pecting the manner in which their generosity 
would be repaid. Meanwhile Columbus 
sought deliverance from his forlorn situation. 
With this view he despatched his secretary, 
Diego Mendez and Fieski, two of his most 
intrepid and faithful officers, in two boats, 
furnished with ten Indians and six Casti- 
lians, to Ovando, the Governor of His- 
paniola, 200 leagues distant, for assistance 
and supplies. Mendez at the same time 
was appointed by the admiral to proceed to 
the Court of Spain, with a memorial to the 
King. Ovando, to gratify his revenge on 
Columbus, with whom he was at enmity, 
instead of affording him the required relief, 
basely took advantage of the admiral's ca- 
lamities, by adding to them mockery and 
insult. A latent suspicion had long been 
lurking in the breasts of some of his com- 
panions, that they had incurred the dis- 
pleasure of the Government at home, and 
of the Viceroy of Hispaniola, on account of 
their fidelity to Columbus, and the late oc- 
currence tended to confirm that impression. 
A mutiny therefore ensued, instigated by 
two of his principal officers — the brothers 
De Porras. Various charges were brought 
against their veteran commander by the 
mutineers, as a pretext for their atrocities, 
and several times, when confined to his 
miserable cabin by acute disease, were at- 
tempts made upon his life, which were only 
fustrated by the skill and bravery of his 
brother Bartholomew. 

The mutineers were intent on making 
efforts to reach Hispaniola. For this pur- 
pose they seized ten canoes which Colum- 
bus had purchased from the Indians, with 
a view to the mutual escape of himself and 
crews, and manning them with Indians as 
rowers, whom they forcibly compelled to 
the task, they proceeded along the shore to 
the east end of the island — the spot to 
which they had previously accompanied 
Mendez and Fieski — when, after plunder- 
ing the coast, and committing other exces- 
ses, they stood out to sea. Their frail 
barks were unable to sustain the fury of 
the storm that arose, and to secure their 
own lives they sacrificed those of the In- 
dians, by throwing them overboard with 
the baggage. Driven back successively, 
and at length become desperate by their 
reverses, the base conspirators vented their 
diabolical passions on the hospitablelndians 
— their almost broken-hearted admiral, 
and his few faithful adherents. Among 



ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 



13 



the Indians they committed the greatest 
enormities, laying waste their provision- 
grounds, and destroying the lives of all who 
opposed the gratification of their passions, 
thereby subjecting themselves and all their 
unfortunate companions to the most fear- 
ful retaliation of their benefactors. The 
Indians, as apprehended, failed in their 
supplies, and famine began to stare the 
Spaniards in the face. It was at this pe- 
riod, and under these circumstances, that 
Columbus resorted to the expedient of se- 
curing a continuance of the obedience and 
friendship of the natives, by foretelling an 
eclipse of the moon.* 

Diego Columbus at length reduced the 
rebels to their allegiance, by an engage- 
ment in which many of them were slain. 
But the deliverance of the exiles from their 
now almost unendurable situation was at 
hand. In a month afterwards, 28th June, 
1504, after the lapse of little more than a 
year, the vessels despatched from Santa 
Gloria to Hispaniola under the command of 
Mendez and Fieski returned, and the admi- 
ral, with the remnant of his diseased and 
half-famished crews, immediately departed, 
leaving the Indians once more in the peace- 
ful possession of their lovely isle. 

But the period of their repose was brief. 
In 1509, three years afterwards, Christo- 
pher Columbus died,")" and a still more bit- 
ter cup was prepared for them, the very 



* " Under the&e circumstances Columbus convened 
all the Caciques in the neighbourhood, that he might 
inform them of something which was of importance 
to their happiness, and essential to theirpreservation. 
These good creatures attended him ; and he, after 
complaining of their leaving him and his companions 
to perish by famine, addressed them in the following 
words, which he pronounced with peculiar emphasis, 
as if he had been inspired: — ' To punish you for your 
cruel conduct, the Great Spirit, whom 1 adore, is 
going to visit you with his most terrible judgments. 
This very evening you will observe the moon turn 
red; after which she will grow dark, and withhold 
her light from you. This will only be a prelude to 
your calamities, ifyou obstinately persist in refusing 
to give us food.' He had scarcely finished this speech, 
when his prophecy was accomplished. The natives 
were astonished ; and being easily induced to deeds 
of benevolence, they, upon a promise of better be- 
haviour by Columbus in behalf of his turbulent fol- 
lowers, and assurances of a speedy departure, promis- 
ed to supply them with whatever they required. He 
then told them, that heaven, moved with their repen- 
tance, was appeased, and that nature was now to re- 
sume her wonted course. They afterwards con- 
ducted themselves with greater circumspection ; and 
were, during the remainder of their stay, furnished 
with the necessary supplies of provision." 

t The body of Columbus is said to have been con- 
veyed to the monastery of the Carthusians, at Seville, 
where he was magnificently interred in the cathedral 



last dregs of which they were doomed to 
drain. Jamaica, with its inhabitants, was 
now given up by the court of Spain to the 
unrestrained tyranny of Alfonzo d'Ojeda 
and Diego Nicuissa, between whom it had 
divided the government of Darien. Dis- 
putes arose between these rival chieftains 
as to the division of the lands, and the 
human property thus placed at their dis- ' 
posal ; and the consequences of this un- 
limited power to the unoffending victims of 
their misrule are almost too dreadful to re- 
late. Their peaceful villages were every- 
where destroyed, and hundreds who es- 
caped the general and indiscriminate mas- 
sacre, which at length, for a time at least, 
satiated the thirst of its perpetrators for 
blood, were doomed to administer to their 
lust of avarice by interminable slavery in 
the mines of Mexico or Peru. In the midst 
of these disputes and remorseless cruelties 
Don Diego, the son of the Great Disco- 
verer, who was at that time governor of 
Hispaniola, having a prior claim to the 
viceroyalty of Jamaica, instituted proceed- 
ings against the crown of Castile, with a 
view to the recovery of his rights, and sent 
Don Juan d'Esquimel, with seventy men, 
to take possession of the island on his be- 
half. D'Esquimel reduced it at very little 
expense of life or property ; and, in further 
obedience to his instructions, commenced 
a colony, and founded the seat of govern- 
ment on the banks of a rivulet, near the 
ruins of the ancient Indian village Mayama, 
on the north side of the island. It was 
Santa Gloria, a spot hallowed in the affec- 
tions of Diego's heart on account of the 
shipwreck and sufferings of his father in 
1503, and he named it Sevilla Nueva. 

His suit against the crown was decided 
in his favour by the Council of the Indies, 
and the designation Sevilla Nueva was an 
appropriate commemoration of that event. 
The infant colony both claimed and shared 
the sympathy and attention of its heredi- 



of that city, and a monument erected to his memory, 
on which is the following inscription: — 

A Castilia y a Leon 
Nuevo Mundo dio Colon. 

In English, 

To Castile and Leon 
Columbus gave a New World. 

Subsequently, it is said his body was carried from the 
above monastery to the city of Domingo, in Hispa- 
niola, and interred in the chancel of the cathedral 
there. 



14 



JAMAICA: 



tary Viceroy; and to promote its general 
interests, but especially those of a spiritual 
kind, his brother Ferdinand now arrived 
from Spain, and established a monastery. 
These preparations, as may be supposed, 
were viewed with no little jealousy by the 
band of Indians that had survived the fatal 
reign of D'Ojeda and Nicuissa, and they 
armed themselves in opposition. At length, 
in utter hopelessness of success, they gra- 
dually sank into the condition of slaves, 
the cruelties they had suffered having ex- 
tinguished almost every trace of their for- 
mer dispositions and character. 

" Oft the pensive muse 
Recalls, in tender thought, the mournful scene 
When the brave Incotel, from yonder rock, 
His last sad blessing to a weeping train 
Dying bequeathed. The hour (he said) arrives, 
By aucient sages to our sires foretold ; 
Fierce from the deep, with Heaven's own lightning 

armed, 
The pallid nation comes; blood marks their steps; 
Man's agonies their sport; and man their prey."* 

"San Domingo, then in all its glory, 
graced by the presence of royal blood and 
many of the nobility of Castile, and the 
seat of fashion in the New World, com- 
municated its luxuriance and taste to Se- 
villa Nueva (now called Sevilla d'Oro, from 
the gold brought thither by the natives); 
and a splendid city arose, rivalling in mag- 
nificence the towns of the mother country, 
but of which not a vestige remains, save 



* " The manner in which the remorseless Spaniards 
tortured their unoffending victims was worthy of the 
goodness of such a cause. They seized upon ihem 
by violence, distributed them like brutes into lots, 
and compelled them to dig in the mines, until death, 
their only refuge, put a period to their sufferings. It 
was also a frequent practice among them, as one of 
their own historians informs us (human nature shud- 
ders at the tale), to murder hundreds of these poor 
creatures, merely to keep their hands in use. They 
were eager in displaying an emulation, which of 
them could most dexterously strike off the head of a 
man at a blow, and wagers frequently depended on 
this horrid exercise. It is impossible for words to 
express the indignation and disgust excited by such 
merciless cruelty. If any of these unhappy Indians, 
goaded by their sufferings, and driven to despair, at- 
tempted resistance or flight, their unfeeling murderers 
hunted them down with dogs, who were fed on their 
flesh. Weakness of age, and helplessness of sex, 
were equally disregarded by these monsters. And 
yet they had the impudence to suppose themselves 
religious, and the favourites of heaven ! Some of the 
most zealous of these adorers of the Holy Virgin 
forced their unhappy captives into the water, and 
after administering to them the rites of baptism, cut 
their throats the next moment, to prevent their apos- 
tacy! Others made and kept a vow to hang or burn 
thirteen every morning, in honour of Christ and his 
twelve apostles! But let us turn from this scene of 
human depravity ; a scene the most remorseless and 
cruel ever displayed on the theatre of the world." 



the memory of the name, the cane-fields 
on the site of the former capital being still 
termed Seville."* 

The government of Don Juan d'Esqui- 
mel was considered mild and conciliating 
towards the natives; and in pursuance of 
his designs for the advancement of the 
colony, he encouraged the culture of cot- 
ton, and introduced the sugar-cane and the 
vine, together with European cattle, which, 
with propitious skies and a fruitful soil, 
was more abundantly compensative than 
all the treasures which, at such an awful 
sacrifice of life, his predecessors had wrung 
from the bowels of the earth. Unhappily 
both for the Indians and the colony the 
rule of Don d'Esquimel was short. He 
expired about the year 1519, at his own 
estate, on the south side of the island, 
situated in front of a beautiful bay called 
Sevilla d'Oro, or Esquimel, now Old Har- 
bour, where he had established a ship- 
building settlement, and was there inter- 
red. Under his mild and comparatively 
equitable government the colony had great- 
ly prospered. In the short space of ten 
years three vessels had been fitted out 
under his direction, manned by 270 seamen, 
with a view to other conquests, and two 
new towns were established as branches of 
Sevilla d'Oro ; Blewfields or Oristan, on 
the south; and Melilla or Martha Brae, 
near Falmouth, on the northern coast of 
the island. Esquimel was succeeded in 
the Government by an individual of a very 
different character and spirit, the cruel 
and avaricious Francis de Geray, a Span- 
iard who had rapidly advanced himself to 
wealth and imporlance as the partner of 
the celebrated Dias, the proprietor of the 
famed gold-mine of St. Christopher, in 
Hispaniola. 

In 1523, Sevilla d'Oro and the other 
settlements on the coast suffered greatly 
from a banditti of French privateers or 
flibustiers, allured by the prospect of spoil. 
Oristan and Manilla were successively 
razed to the ground ; and at length the 
capital itself yielded to the ravages of 
these lawless corsairs. A safer retreat 
became necessary than could be afforded 
by contiguity to the sea, and Diego finally 
fixed the site of the new settlement near 
the extremity of a fertile plain, on the 
south side of the island, which was water- 



Bridges. 



ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 



15 



ed by the clear streams of an impetuous 
river. It rapidly rose in estimation and 
importance, and was called by its founder 
St. Jago de la Vega, or St. Jago of the 
Plains, to distinguish it, as is supposed, 
from St. Jago de Cuba. Three years after 
this event Don Diego Columbus died, and, 
owing to several circumstances connected 
with his decease, the prosperity of the 
country declined, except in the immediate 
neighbourhood of the new capital, St. Jago 
de la Vega. Here, in sixteen years from 
its foundation, industry and wealth had 
been so stimulated by the security which 
its situation afforded, that it soon rivalled 
Sevilla d'Oro when in its greatest magnifi- 
cence, and gave the title of Marquis to the 
grandson of the Great Discoverer. 

On the first possession of the island by 
the Spaniards the aboriginal inhabitants 
were estimated at from 80,000, to 100,000 ; 
and, as an evidence of the atrocities they 
suffered at the hands of their merciless 
conquerors, they are represented by the 
historian Gage, writing in 1637, as having 
been, in the year 1558, entirely extermi- 
nated : 

Quid non mortalia pectora cogis, 
Auri sacra fames! 

Hence, owing to European wars and 
the predatory incursions of hordes of free- 
booters and privateers, the colony was sub- 
ject to various vicissitudes until 1596. 
Shortly before this period the effective 
strength of the settlers was augmented by 
the arrival of a considerable number of 
Portuguese, owing to a union of the 
Crowns of Spain and Portugal, by which 
the territorial right of the island was vest- 
ed in the royal house of Braganza. The 
trade of the colony was thus greatly in- 
creased, and chiefly consisted of ginger, 
tobacco, sugar, lard and hides, whilst the 
domestic animals, swine, horses, and horn- 
ed cattle, originally brought from Hispa- 
niola, had so multiplied as to overrun the 
island. The capital, thus again feeling 
the influence of increasing wealth, far ex- 
ceeded its former prosperity and magnifi- 
cence. 

Hitherto, from various causes, Jamaica 
had never attracted the invasion of a fo- 
reign European power ; but its fame for 
wealth and prosperity now became known 
to Sir Anthony Shirley, a British admiral, 
who, being at that time cruising in the 



neighbourhood, invaded it with a large 
fleet, and effected an easy conquest of it at 
Passage Fort. Plundering the capital and 
the most accessible parts of the country of 
its treasure, he left it for richer conquests. 
Thirty-nine years afterwards, during 
which, under the government of Don Ar- 
noldo de Sasi, the town rose to its highest 
state of prosperity, it was invaded in a si- 
milar manner by Colonel Jackson, who, at 
the head of 500 men, after a desperate en- 
gagement with the Spanish garrison there 
of very superior force, also effected his 
landing at Passage Fort, and committed 
the same excesses. 

The termination of the next twenty 
years, from whatever cause it might arise, 
saw the inhabitants of this flourishing co- 
lony enervated by sloth, and oppressed by 
poverty. The population of the whole 
island did not now exceed 1500 Spaniards 
and Portuguese, the same number of mu- 
lattoes and negro slaves, and eight families 
of the higher classes. The latter, called 
Hidalgos, possessed the entire island, 
which was divided into as many patos or 
districts between them. 

A new era in the history of the island 
approached. Owing to a succession of 
provocations and injuries on the part of 
Spain — as well, as is supposed, to re-esta- 
blish the maritime supremacy of England 
(now greatly enfeebled) by adding to her 
colonial possessions, and thus to establish 
an equality of right to the navigation of 
the American seas — Cromwell fitted out an 
expedition for the subjugation of Hispa- 
niola. The armament consisted of 6500 
men, and was committed to the command 
of Admiral Penn and General Venables. 
Failing in their attempt on the capital of 
the Spanish settlements, for which they 
were afterwards committed to the Tower, 
they attacked Jamaica on the 3d of May, 
1655, which capitulated after a trifling re- 
sistance. It thus became an appendage to 
the British Crown, after it had been in the 
possession of the Spaniards 146 years. 
From the terms of the negotiation and the 
delay that occurred in the ratification of 
the treaty, the conquerors were disappoint- 
ed in their expectations of booty. The 
inhabitants had conveyed away into the 
woods every thing valuable they possessed. 
Disease, famine and party feuds resulted 
from the excesses committed by the British 
army ; and these, added to the defenceless 



16 



JAMAICA : 



state of the island, led to renewed efforts 
on the part of Spain to regain her lost pos- 
session, but without success. For a time 
its new occupants revelled in luxury ; but, 
subsequently, dissipated by indolence and 
crime, and at length enfeebled by disease 
and poverty, they became but little supe- 
rior to the savage monsters they supplant- 
ed. Thus, among other evidences of their 
barbarity, Colonel D'Oyley sanctioned the 
introduction of blood-hounds into the coun- 
try, for " the hunting of the negroes," as 
it was savagely expressed in one of the 
public documents of the time.* 

Hitherto, from the conquest of the island 
by the English, it had been under the in- 
fluence of a military government. A civil 
administration was now to be formed, and 
Colonel Edward D'Oyley was elevated to 
the office of governor, which took, place in 
1661. Jamaica now becamethe rendezvous 
of buccaneers, and the resort of piratical 
crusaders; a desperate band of adventurers 
composed of men from all the maritime 
powers of Europe. These marauders con- 
tinued their depredations until the year 
1670, when peace was made with Spain. 
They intercepted the Spanish galleons in 
their transit with the precious metals to 
Europe, pillaged towns and villages, and 
multiplied the number of negro-slaves. The 
character of the white population at this 
time was deplorable — composed of disband- 
ed soldiers, Spanish refugees, hordes of 
pirates and buccaneers, convicts, and in- 
dented servants, and the dregs of the three 
kingdoms, who exhibited every kind of ex- 
cess, and perpetrated almost every degree 
of wickedness. 

In the feuds so rife in England between 
the Republican and Royalist parties the 
colonists participated with the utmost ran- 
cour. It must, however, be said, to the 
honour of Charles, on his Restoration, that 
he confirmed D'Oyley in the government, 
and removed the existing asperities by an 
impartial bestowment of some valuable im- 
munities. In September, 1662, Governor 



* The following orders, extracted from the records 
of the State Paper Office, will convey a curious pic- 
ture of the spirit and manners of that age : — 

" Aug. 14. An order signed Edward D'Oyley, for 
the distribution to the army of 1701 Bibles. 

" Aug. 26, 1659. Order issued this day unto Mr. 
Peter Pugh, Treasurer, to pay unto John Hoy the 
summe of Twenty Pounds sterling, out of the impost 
money, to pay for fifteene doggs, brought by him for 
the hunting of the negroes." 



D'Oyley was succeeded in the administra- 
tion of affairs by Lord Windsor, who was 
deputed to effect a beneficial alteration in 
the form of government. This nobleman 
appointed judges of quarter-session and a 
magistracy; established a militia ; divided 
the island into parishes, and granted patents 
of land ; investing it with a complete muni- 
cipal character. The first assembly was 
convened under authority of the King in 
Council in 1664, by Lieutenant-Governor 
Sir Charles Lyttleton. It consisted of 
thirty members and a speaker, who enact- 
ed laws which received the sanction of the 
King. Its sittings were divided between 
the seat of government and Port Royal, for 
the mutual convenience and benefit of the 
public. Under the administration of Sir 
Thomas Modyford, a wealthy planter from 
Barbadoes, a serious dispute arose between 
the Colonial Legislature and the Crown on 
the subject of taxation, and the parties by 
whom the supplies thus raised were to be 
controlled. In 1670 peace was proclaim- 
ed with Spain ; and it was found necessary 
for its preservation, as well as for other 
reasons, to discourage the marauding ex- 
peditions of the pirates already noticed, 
who, now in the height of their successes, 
infested the seas of the New World, and 
poured forth their ill-gotten treasures into 
Jamaica. 

The most notorious chieftain of these 
was Morgan, whose name is intimately 
connected with the history of the islands. 
He was born in 1635, and was a native of 
Wales, of the clan of the Morgans of Trede- 
gar; and, by his extraordinary exploits 
both by sea and land, was afterwards ele- 
vated to the dignity of Lieutenant-Gover- 
nor of Jamaica. At this period, although 
the island had been possessed by the British 
but fourteen years, and had been cradled 
amidst storms and difficulties almost incon- 
ceivable, it exhibited a degree of prosperity 
truly astonishing. The white population 
was 15,198; its effective sea and land 
forces, 5221 ; and negro-slaves, 9500. Of 
sugar, pimento, cocoa, indigo, and other 
properties, there was from 150 to 200. In 
the following year, 1671, on the accession 
of Sir Thomas Lynch, still more effective 
measures were employed for the extension 
of agriculture and commerce. Very im- 
portant regulations were also introduced 
into the laws for the better protection of 
property and life. 



ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 



17 



Morgan, the late pirate and buccaneer, 
raised to the honour of knighthood for his 
conquest of Panama, succeeded to the 
government. His administration was brief, 
and distinguished for little but an attempt 
to increase the cultivation of the north side 
of the island, and for quelling an insurrec- 
tion of the slaves. He is stated by some 
historians to have died at Port Royal, 
where he had resided for several years as 
a peaceful citizen ; and by others to have 
expired in England a miserable victim to 
the influence of the Spanish Court. 

Morgan was succeeded by Lord Vaug- 
han and the Earl of Carlisle; and it was 
under the administration of the former that 
the African Company was formed which 
legalized the Slave Trade. In 1688 the 
Duke of Albemarle arrived as governor, 
appointed by his patron James II. He 
rendered himself unpopular by his bigoted 
zeal in favour of Popery, and interrupted 
for a time the peace and prosperity of the 
country. Commerce, however, received 
under his administration a new stimulus by 
an extensive immigration of Jews; and Sir 
Hans Sloane, his Excellency's private 
secretary, increased the boundaries of na- 
tural history by adding to it his excellent 
collection of plants. 

In addition to the calamities experienced 
by the planters and inhabitants generally 
from the predatory incursions of the Ma- 
roons, now considerably augmented in 
number by the desertion of slaves from the 
lawless tyranny of their possessors, they 
were visited by a succession of calamities 
stil! more dreadful and desolating. Port 
Royal, long the rendezvous of the bucca- 
neers, the mart of the new world, and 
which had become proverbial both for its 
wealth and its wickedness, was swallowed 
up by an earthquake with 3000 of the in- 
habitants of the island. It occurred about 
midday on the 7th June, 1692. The sky, 
which a little time before was clear and 
serene, was suddenly overshadowed with 
partial darkness, exhibiting faint gleams of 
red and purple. The sea was calm. The 
Governor and Council were met in session. 
As on the day that Noah entered into the 
ark, the inhabitants were immersed in their 
various schemes of business and pleasure; 
the wharves were laden with the richest 
merchandise; the markets and stores dis- 
played the splendid treasures of Mexico 
and Peru ; and the streets were crowded 



with people. On a sudden a roar was heard 
in the distant mountains, which reverberat- 
ed through the valleys to the beach. The 
sea immediately rose, and in three minutes 
stood five fathoms over the houses of the 
devoted town. Nearly the whole city was 
deluged, while the spectacles of corpses, 
mangled by the concussion of the earth, 
with the shrieks and lamentations of the 
sufferers, were awful beyond expression. 
Although no air was in motion, the sea 
was agitated as by a tempest. Billows rose 
and fell with such violence that the vessels 
in the harbour broke from their moorings ; 
one of the vessels of war, the Swan frigate, 
was forced over the tops of the sunken 
houses, and, as if in mercy to the sufferers, 
afforded them a refuge from still impend- 
ing danger. Of the whole city, which a 
few minutes before consisted of 3000 
houses, not more than 200 with the fort 
were left uninjured. The greater part of 
the wealth and property of the city was 
destroyed, and, what was more to be re- 
gretted, because irreparable, all the official 
papers and records of the island. The 
whole country felt the shock and shared 
the effects of the awful visitation. The 
current of rivers was intercepted, and new 
channels were formed ; hills were driven 
together with a crash surpassing thunder ; 
mountains were riven to pieces, and, fall- 
ing into the valleys beneath, involved the 
destruction of hundreds of inhabitants; 
whole settlements sunk into the bowels of 
the earth ; plantations were removed from 
their situation, and all the sugar-works 
were destroyed; in a word, the outline of 
everything was changed, and the whole 
surface of the island almost entirely sub- 
sided. The sunken houses of the city on 
a fine clear day are distinguishable beneath 
the surface of the ocean. Putrefying bodies, 
exposed in the suburbs of the towns and 
floating in the harbour, generated a noxious 
miasm, which swept off 3000 of the suf- 
ferers who yet remained. As a sad and 
lasting memorial of this awful calamity, 
Green Bay, on the opposite side of the har- 
bour, exhibits the tomb of Louis Caldy,* 



* The following is the epitaph copied from his 
tomb situated at a place called Green Bay, opposite 
the harbour of Port Royal, which the author has re- 
peatedly visited : — 

" Here lieth the body of Louis Caldy, Esq., a native 
of Montpelier, in France, which country he left on 
account of the Revocation. He was swallowed up 
by an earthquake which occurred at this place in 



18 



JAMAICA 



who was almost miraculously preserved 
from a watery grave in the midst of the 
catastrophe. 

Scarcely had the colonists recovered 
from the panic and distress into which 
they were thrown by the earthquake, than 
they were threatened by the calamities of 
war. -The French General, M. Ducasse, 
Governor of St. Domingo, invaded the 
island with a powerful armament. Fie 
committed the most wanton and aggra- 
vated cruelties, and thus added to the mi- 
series already entailed upon them by the 
elements of nature and the ravages of 
disease. He was finally routed by the 
bravery of the militia at Carlisle Bay, one 
of the south-side ports. For several years 
afterwards the colony experienced a suc- 
cession of favourable events. Port Royal 
rose again from its ruins, agriculture and 
commerce were re-established, and the ap- 
pearances of wealth and splendour revived. 
This period of peace and commercial pros- 
perity extended through almost a century, 
and was interrupted only by the party 
feuds that arose from the exactions of the 
parent state. In 1702 Port Royal was 
almost entirely destroyed by fire, occa- 
sioned by an explosion of gunpowder that 
was carelessly exposed to the action of the 
sun in the roofs of stores covered with a 
light resinous wood. Devastated in Au- 
gust, 1722, by a tremendous hurricane, 
and almost depopulated by an epidemic 
disease that immediately followed, the seat 
of commerce was finally transferred to 
Kingston, which began to be founded after 
the calamity of 1692. 

Under the mild and salutary administra- 
tion of the Duke of Portland, a bill passed 
the House of Assembly, and received the 
sanction of the Crown, that was regarded 
as the " Magna Charta" of Jamaica ; one 
of the effects of which was to annihilate 
the unhappy differences which had so long 
existed between the colonists and the go- 
vernment at home.* A succession of fa- 
vourable events followed the war with 
Spain; whilst the subjection of the Ma- 
roons, who had so long harassed the island, 
having been effected under Vice-Admiral 



1692; but, by the great providence of God, was, by a 
second shock, flung into the sea, where he continued 
swimming until rescued by a boat, and lived 40 years 
afterwards." 

* The Revenue Bill, which granted to the colony 
the immunities of British laws. 



Vernon and Governor Trelawney, Jamaica 
attained unexampled prosperity, compris- 
ing in 1742, besides abundant wealth, a 
population of 14,000 whites and 100,000 
slaves. In 1751 Admiral Knowles at- 
tempted to remove the seat of government 
to Kingston, but was finally compelled to 
abandon his purpose by the remonstrances 
and threats of the populace. Insecurity 
of life and property is the inevitable result 
of so unnatural and atrocious a system as 
that of slavery, and another insurrection 
of the slaves occurred, which threatened 
the destruction of the entire white popula- 
tion. It was speedily subdued, but the 
atrocities perpetrated in retaliation by the 
whites would excite a shudder of horror at 
their recital even at this distance of time. 
The success of the British arms during the 
war perpetuated the prosperity of the co- 
lony, and led to some important improve- 
ments. Various public buildings were 
erected at St. Jago de la Vega ; the banks 
of the Rio Cobre were adorned by groves 
of aromatic trees and elegant villas and 
farms ; sugar estates were established ex- 
tensively on the north side of the island; 
and peace and plenty shed their blessings 
over the land. In 1763 Fort Augusta, the 
large military establishment which occu- 
pies a promontory at the entrance of King- 
ston harbour, was destroyed by the explo- 
sion of its magazine, containing 3000 bar- 
rels of gunpowder, ignited by lightning. 
By this catastrophe hundreds of the resi- 
dents of the garrison were killed and 
wounded, and immense property was de- 
stroyed. 

The number of negro slaves annually im- 
ported into Jamaica at this period amounted 
to 16,000, so that within thirty years the 
slave population had increased from 99,000 
to upwards of 200,000, whilst the total nu- 
merical strength of the whites did not ex- 
ceed 16,000. 

England being involved in a war with 
her North American Colonies, Jamaica 
was threatened with an attack from the 
combined fleets of France and Spain, com- 
manded by Count de Grasse. The designs 
of these powerful enemies, however, were 
frustrated by Lords Rodney and Hood, 
who gained a signal victory over them off 
Dominica, on the 12th of April, 1782. A 
marble statue was subsequently erected to 
Lord Rodney in the square at Spanish 
Town, or St. Jago de la Vega, to com- 



ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 



19 



memorate the event,* and a splendid pre- 
sent was made to General Archibald Camp- 
bell, then Lieutenant-Governor, for the pre- 
parations he had made in defence. 

His late Majesty William IV., then a 
midshipman in the navy, visited Jamaica 
about this period, and had abundant evi- 
dence of the loyalty of its inhabitants, who 
subsequently presented him with a star of 
the value of a thousand guineas. The 
year 1795 was distinguished by another 
war with the Maroons, occasioned by the 
intemperate policy of Earl Balcarres, which 
ended in the banishment of that high- 
minded people to Nova Scotia and Sierra 
Leone. 

Although tranquillity was again restored, 
the colonists, from the very circumstances 
of their condition, were continually subject 
to alarm. Their connection with the slave- 
trade, — their gross oppressions of their 
bondsmen — and the position of the island 
in reference to the whole of the New 
World — all contributed to their insecurity ; 
but the revolution at St. Domingo (now 
Hayti), and the general state of affairs in 
Europe, presented an aspect that threa- 
tened them with inevitable ruin. Although, 
however, the worst apprehensions were not 
realized by the occurrences in the neigh- 
bouring islands, the expenditures occa- 
sioned by the destruction of so many of 
the public works, by the disastrous con- 
flicts within and around them, added to 
the state and luxury in which the greater 
part of the inhabitants now revelled, very 
materially diminished their prosperity, and 
their ruin was only averted by a loan of 
300,000/. from the parent Government. 
A fire, which nearly consumed the town of 
Montego Bay — an apprehended invasion 
of the French from St. Domingo — a con- 
spiracy among the slaves in Kingston — 
the abolition of the slave-trade, and the 
victories of Lord Nelson and Admiral Sir 
Thomas Duckworth over the French fleets 
destined to the conquest of the island — are 
almost the only occurrences deserving of 
historical record to the year 1823. The 
events which have transpired from that 
time to the present will be recorded else- 
where. It is, however, not unworthy of 
remark in the conclusion of this sketch, 
and that chiefly as an evidence of the great 



* This statue was executed by Bacon, and cost 
3000 guineas, 



impolicy as well as injustice of slavery, 
that nearly thirty insurrections of the slave 
population occurred within the period of 
its possession by the British, and that the 
insurrection in 1832 involved the lives 
of 700 of the slaves, and an expense of 
161,596/., independently of the value of 
property destroyed, which was estimated 
at 1,154,583/., thus rendering a further 
loan of 300,000/. from the parent Govern- 
ment necessary to meet the exigencies thus 
occasioned. The whole past history of 
Jamaica and of the West India islands in 
general, like the prophet's roll, " is filled 
with lamentation, mourning, and woe." It 
presents only a succession of wars, usur- 
pations, crimes, misery, and vice ; " nor 
in this desert of human wretchedness is 
there one green spot on which the mind of 
a philanthropist would love to dwell;" all, 
all is one revolting scene of infamy, blood- 
shed, and unmitigated woe, of insecure 
peace and open disturbance, of the abuse 
of power, and of the reaction of misery 
against oppression. " Slavery, both Indian 
and negro, that blighting Upas, has been 
the curse of the West Indies ; it has ac- 
companied the white colonist, whether Spa- 
niard, Frenchman, or Briton, in his pro- 
gress, tainting, like a plague, every inci- 
pient association, and blasting the efforts 
of man, however originally well-disposed, 
by its demon-like influence over the natural 
virtues with which his Creator had en- 
dowed him — leaving all cold and dark, and 
desolate within."* 

The following are the names of the Go- 
vernors, Lieutenant-Governors, and tem- 
porary rulers of Jamaica, with the years 
when they commenced their administra- 
tions : — 

Governor, Colonel D'Oyley, 1660 ; Go- 
vernor, Lord Windsor, 1662 ; Lieutenant- 
Governor, Sir C. Lyttleton, Knt., 1662; 
President, Colonel Thomas Lynch, 1664; 
Governor, Sir Thomas Modyford, Knt., 
1664 ; Lieutenant-Governor, SirT. Lynch, 
Knt., 1671 ; Lieutenant-Governor, Sir H. 
Morgan, Knt., 1675 ; Governor, Lord 
Vaughan, 1675, Lieutenant-Governor, Sir 
H. Morgan, Knt. ; Governor, Charles Earl 
of Carlisle, 1678 ; Lieutenant-Governor, 
Sir Henry Morgan, Knt., 1680 ; Gover- 
nor, Sir Thomas Lynch, Knt., 1682 ; 
Lieutenant-Governor, Col. Hender Moles- 



* Martin's Colonies. 



20 



JAMAICA : 



worth, 1684; Governor, Christopher Duke 
of Albemarle, 1687; President, Sir Fran- 
cis Watson, 1688 ; Governor, William 
Earl of Inchiquin, 1690; President, John 
White, Esq., 1692; President, John Bour 
den, Esq., 1692 ; Lieutenant-Governor 
Sir William Beeston, Knt„ 1693 ; Gover 
nor, William Selwyn, Esq., 1702 ; Lieu 
tenant-Governor, P. Beckford, Esq., 1702 
Lieutenant-Governor, T. Handasyd, Esq. 
1702; Governor, Lord Arch. Hamilton 
1711 ; Governor, Peter Haywood, Esq. 
1716; Governor, Sir Nicholas Lawes 
Knt., 1718; Governor, Henry Duke of 
Portland, 1722 ; President, John Ays 
cough, Esq., 1722; Governor, Major-Ge 
neral Robert Hunter, 1728 ; President 
John Ayscough, Esq., 1734; President 
John Gregory, Esq., 1735 ; Henry Cun 
ningham, Esq., was appointed Governor 
in 1735, but President Gregory was suc- 
ceeded by Governor Edward Trelawney, 
Esq., 1738 ; Governor, Charles Knowles, 
Esq., 1752 ; Lieutenant-Governor, Henry 
Moore, Esq., 1756 ; Governor, George 
Haldane, Esq., 1758 ; Lieutenant-Gover- 
nor, Henry Moore, Esq., 1759 ; Governor, 
W. H. Lyttleton, Esq., 1762 ; Lieutenant- 
Governor, R. H. Ettelson, Esq., 1766; 
Governor, Sir William Trelawney, Bart., 
1767 ; Lieutenant-Governor, Lieutenant- 
Colonel J. Dalling, 1773; Governor, Basil 
Keith, Knt., 1773 ; Governor, Major-Ge- 
neral Dalling, 1777 ; Governor, Major- 
General Archibald Campbell, 1782 ; Lieu- 
tenant-Governor, Brigadier General Alur- 
ed Clarke, 1784 ; Governor, Thomas Earl 
of Effingham, 1790; Lieutenant-Governor, 
Major-General Williamson, 1793 ; Lieute- 
nant-Governor, Earl of Balcarres, 1795; 
Lieutenant-Governor, Lieut. -General G. 
Nugent, 1801; Lieutenant-Governor, Lt.- 
General Sir E. Coote, 1806 ; Governor, 
Duke of Manchester, 1808 ; Lieutenant- 
Governor, Lieutenant-General E. Morri- 
son, 1811 ; Governor, Duke of Manches- 
ter, 1813 ; Lieutenant-Governor, Major- 
General H. Conran, 1821 ; Governor, 
Duke of Manchester, 1822 ; Lieutenant- 
Governor, Major-General Sir John Keene, 
1827 ; Governor, Earl of Belmore, 1829 ; 
President, G. Cuthbert, Esq., 1832 ; Go- 
vernor, C. H. Earl of Mulgrave, 1832; 
Lt. -Governor, Maj.-Gen'l. Sir Amos Nor- 
cott ; Governor, Marquis of Sligo, 1834 ;* 

* Martin's Colonies. 



Governor, Lieutenant-General Sir Lionel 
Smith, Bart., 1836 ; Governor, Sir Chas. 
Theophilus Metcalfe, 1839 ; Governor, 
James Earl of Elgin, and Kincardine, 
1842. 



CHAPTER HI. 



PHYSICAL ASPECTS OP THE COUNTRY. 



Scenery — Mountains — Rivers — Springs — Cascades- 
Harbours. 



It is said that Columbus, when he first 
discovered the Islands of the Western 
world, was so enraptured with the beauty 
and magnificence of the scenery as scarce- 
ly to be persuaded but that he had reach- 
ed the fabled regions of romance. Hence 
the glowing description which he transmit- 
ted to his royal patrons, Ferdinand and 
Isabella of Spain. " These countries as 
far exceed all others in beauty and conve- 
niency as the sun surpasses the moon in 
brightness and splendour." Never will 
the writer forget the feeling's of wonder 
and admiration with which he first beheld 
Jamaica, the most beautiful of the group. 
He was standing on the deck of the ves- 
sel as she entered the harbour of Port Mo- 
rant, at its eastern extremity, lt was at 
an early hour of the morning, the land 
wind had died away, and not a breath 
swept the glassy surface of the dark blue 
sea. Before him stood the Blue mountains 
rising by an almost abrupt acclivity from 
the water's edge, their tops enveloped in 
clouds, and covered from their base to 
their highest elevation with huge forest- 
trees and shrubs of novel appearance 
and beauty, partially obscured by the 
dense fog that crept along their sides. 
On either hand, as far as the eye could 
distinguish, the margin of the sea was 
fringed with the mangrove-tree, interspers- 
ed with occasional clumps of the cocoa- 
nut and mountain-palm ; far along the en- 
chanting panorama were dwellings that 
now caught and reflected the first rays of 
the sun ; while ever and anon, the full tide 
played in white breakers or in silver cre- 
scents on the shore. 

As you proceed towards Port Royal the 
landscape becomes more diversified. The 
mountain range which intersects the island 



ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 



21 



appears at intervals disjointed, and dimi- 
nished also in its altitude, presenting nu- 
merous romantic inequalities beautified by 
the art of man. Here, amidst a wild wil- 
derness, are extensive cane-fields and ver- 
dant pastures of Guinea grass. There, on 
the summit of a hill overlooking irrigated 
and verdant fields redeemed from the forest 
around, and adding a fresh charm to the 
landscape, stands some bold edifice in the 
midst of a cluster of substantial buildings 
resembling the lordly possessions of feudal 
times, whilst at a little distance, but half 
discovered amidst the thick foliage of the 
cocoa-nut groves which marked their site, 
and the purple darkness of the inland hills, 
appear groups of smiling villages. An ex- 
tensive savannah next presents itself, partly 
covered with wild luxuriance, a stream of 
water rushing precipitately down the deep 
and darkly shaded ravines of the contigu- 
ous hills upon its level bosom ; whilst in 
the distance the very summit of the cloud- 
capped mountains, now diverging from the 
shore crowned with deep woods and cover- 
ed with perpetual verdure are disclosed, 
whilst beautiful mansions amidst pimento 
and coffee plantations, an imposing mili- 
tary establishment, with here and there a 
rural sanctuary lifting up its tall spire 
above, display themselves through their 
woody enclosure. Amidst these are cot- 
tages and buildings of diversified appear- 
ance and size variously distributed. A 
range of summits stretching far inland to 
the west, the Healthshire hills at the en- 
trance of Port Royal harbour, an extensive 
promontory before us, and the almost illi- 
mitable horizon to the south, terminate the 
novel and stupendous scene. 

In the interior of the island the splen- 
dour and beauty of the prospect is, if pos- 
sible, increased. At every successive step 
the traveller seems to breathe a purer air 
and to survey a brighter scene. Here the 
barren, the fertile, the level and the inac- 
cessible, are commingled. On the one side 
is seen a fine valley or glade, fertile and 
irrigated, stretching along the foot of crag- 
gy and desolate mountains covered with 
immense rocks slightly intermixed with a 
dry, arid, and unfruitful soil; on the other, 
a narrow and precipitous defile, or deep 
and gloomy cavern where the sun's rays 
never penetrate, both enclosed by abrupt 
precipices, overhanging rocks, and imper- 
vious woods. In this direction the country 



is varied with ridges of low forest hills 
rising gradually from the horizon, flat, 
level, and standing detached like islands. 
Yonder an extensive valley presents itself 
as if enclosed by a lofty amphitheatre of 
wood along which a river flows, meander- 
ing until lost between two parallel lines of 
mountains, as though from the bosom of a 
vast lake, it had forced its passage through 
them to the sea.* In the more cultivated 
districts, as viewed from an eminence, the 
scene is lively and animating beyond de- 
scription. The negroes in gangs are em- 
ployed in the fields cutting canes or weed- 
ing pastures, numerous herds of oxen with 
other domestic animals graze on the shorn* 
fields or browse on the verdant slopes; an 
endless diversity of hill, valley, mountain, 
and defile, interspersed with clusters of 
the bamboo cane and towering cocoa 
palms, which gracefully wave their fea- 
thery plumes in the breeze, copses of un- 
derwood, pastures shaded with lofty trees, 
plantain-walks, ruinates and extensive fields 
of sugar-cane, of fresh and variegated foli- 
age, chequer and adorn the entire land- 
scape. At a greater distance, the exten- 
sive and beautiful valley, rich in the pro- 
ducts of the soil, opens to the eye. The 
morning mists which still partially hang 
over it, have the illusive appearance of a 
vast lake resting on its bosom, or a beauti- 
ful bay with its islands floating on the sur- 
face of the quiet waters. Behind are the 
majestic heights, losing themselves by de- 
grees in the clouds, distributing light and 
shade in endless contrast, and presenting 
to the ravished eye a picture every moment 
glowing with new attractions. At a still 
greater distance appears the ocean with the 
shipping, its waters calm and unruffled, or 
tossed into fury by the winds. The high 
mountainous district in general presents to 
the beholder the sylvan beauties of coffee 
and pimento plantations, with groves of 
orange and other fruit trees, which at some 
seasons of the year breathe the perfumes 
of Arabia. Along the coast to the N. E., 
N. W., and S., as viewed from the sea, 
broken and irregular mountains rising from 
the midst of lesser elevations, their summits 
crowned with perpendicular rocks of every 
variety of shape and form which the wild- 
est imagination can conceive, are contrast- 

* Sixteen mite Walk between Spanish Town and 
Bog-walk Tavern in the parish of St. Thomas in the 
Vale. 



23 



JAMAICA: 



ed with the beautiful and verdant clothing 
of the open glade, round-topped hills, smil- 
ing villages, numerous cascades, mountain 
streams and roaring cataracts. The un- 
imaginable luxuriance of the herbage, the 
singular exotic appearance of all around, 
the green-house-like feel and temperature 
of the atmosphere, and the fresh flush of 
vegetable fragrance wafted from the shore, 
are all calculated to regale the senses, ex- 
hilarate the spirits, and diffuse through the 
soul a strange delirium of buoyant hope 
and joy. Jamaica, in a word, may be 
reckoned among the most romantic and 
highly-diversified countries in the world, 
uniting the rich magnificent scenery which 
waving forests, never-failing streams, and 
constant verdure can present, heightened 
by the pure atmosphere, and the glowing 
tints of a tropical sun.* 

" Beautiful islands! where the green 

Which nature wears was never seen 

'.Neath zone of Europe ; where the hue 

Of sea and heaven is such a blue 

As England dreams not ; where the night 

Is all irradiate with the light 

Of stars like moons, which, hung on high, 

Breathe and quiver in the sky, 

Each its silver haze divine 

Flinging in a radiant line, 

O'er gorgeous flower and mighty tree 

On the soft and shadowy sea ! 

Beautiful islands! brief the time 

I dwelt beneath your awful clime ; 

Yet oft 1 see in noonday dream 

Your glorious stars with lunar beam; 

And oft before my sight arise 

Your sky-like seas, your sea-like skies, 

Your green banana's giant leaves, 

Your golden canes in arrowy sheaves, 

Your palms which never die, but stand 

Immortal sea-marks on the strand, — 

Their feathery tufts, like plumage rare, 

Their stems so high, so strange and fair! 

Yea ! while the breeze of England now 

Flings rose-scents on my aching brow, 

I think a moment I inhale 

Again the breath of tropic gale." 

The great series of mountains which in- 
tersects the island from east to west is, at 
its highest elevation, nearly 8000 feet above 
the level of the sea; but there are other 
extensive ranges of inferior elevation some- 
times connected with the larger series, and 
at other times independent of it. These 
mountains, some of which exhibit proofs 
of volcanic origin, vary in their elevation 



* A gentleman, on his return from Jamaica, being 
asked to describe its surface, (in imitation of Colum- 
bus when he described the appearance of Dominica 
to Isabella of Spain.) did so by crumpling a sheet of 
paper in his hands — a representation than which 
nothing could give a better idea of the jagged and 
compressed appearance of its conical mountains. 



from 2000 feet and upwards. The highest 
is the Coldridge, at the eastern extremity 
of the island ;* the St. Catherine's Peak, 
to the north of Kingston; the Cedar- valley- 
ridge, in the county of Middlesex, and pa- 
rish of St. Catherine, on which stands the 
village of Sligoville; the Bull's Head, in 
the parish of Clarendon, nearly in the 
centre of the island; the Dolphin's Head, 
in the neighbourhood of Lucea, in the pa- 
rish of Hanover; and Yallahs Hill, on the 
southeast coast 6f the county of Surrey. 
In some of them are to be found magnifi- 
cient natural excavations. 

The rivers, including springs and rivu- 
lets, have been estimated at upwards of 
200 in number — about 40 are of the larg- 
est class. From the mountainous nature 
of the country, and the huge masses of 
rock that frequently obstruct their course, 
they are often precipitous, and exhibit nu- 
merous and beautiful cascades, now flow- 
ing on in unmurmuring peacefulness, and 
anon bursting headlong in the foam and 
thunder of a cataract. On the north side 
of the island, near to the spot immortalized 
by the shipwreck of Columbus and the city 
of Sevilla d'Oro, where the rocks overhang 
the ocean, no less than eight transparent 
waterfalls are beheld at the same moment. 
Very i~ew of the rivers, however, are navi- 
gable. Among those that are available for 
this purpose, the principal is Black River, 
in the parish of Saint Elizabeth, which 
is navigable for thirty miles towards its 
source, but only by flat-bottomed boats and 
canoes. The others are the Rio Cobre 
and the Rio Minho, on the south ; and 
Martha Brae, White, Ginger and Great 
River, on the north. Before leaving this 
subject it may be interesting to advert to 
two natural curiosities in St. Anne's parish, 
which Dr. Coke thus describes : — 

" The first is a surprising cascade, form- 
ed by a branch of the Rio Alto, or High 
River, which is supposed to re-emerge 
(after a subterraneous current of several 
miles) between Roaring River Plantation 
and Menzies' Bog. The hills in this quar- 
ter are many of them composed of a sta- 
lactite matter ; by whose easy solution the 
waters oozing through the rocks are copi- 
ously charged with it, so that they incrus- 
tate all bodies deposited in them. The 

* The summit of the Coldridge is said to be 8184 
feet above the level of the sea. 



ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 



23 



source of this river is at a very consider- 
able elevation above the level of the sea, 
and at a great distance from the coast. 
From thence it runs between the hills suc- 
cessively, broad or contracted, as they on 
each side approach nearer, or recede fur- 
ther from one another. In one of the 
more extended spaces it expands its water 
in a gentle descent among a very curious 
group of anchovy pear trees, whose spread- 
ing roots intercept the shallow stream in a 
multitude of different directions. The wa- 
ter thus retarded deposits its grosser con- 
tents, which, in the course of time, have 
formed various incrustations, around as 
many cisterns, spread in beautiful ranks, 
gradually rising one above another. A 
sheet of water, transparent as crystal, con- 
forming itself to the flight of steps, over- 
spreads their surface; and, as the rays of 
light or sunshine play between the waving 
branches of the trees, it descends glitter- 
ing with a thousand variegated tints. The 
incrustation in many parts is sufficiently 
solid to bear the weight of a man ; in 
others it is so thin that some persons, 
whose curiosity induced them to venture 
too far, found themselves suddenly plung- 
ed up to the waist in a cold bath. The 
sides of the cisterns, or reservoirs, are 
formed by broken boughs and limbs in- 
crusted over; and they are supported by 
the trunks of trees promiscuously growing 
between them. The cisterns themselves 
are always full of water, which trickles 
down from one upon another ; and although 
several of them are six or seven feet deep, 
the spectator may clearly discern whatever 
lies at the bottom. 

" The laminse which envelope them are 
in general half an inch thick. To a su- 
perficial observer their sides have the ap- 
pearance of stone ; but upon breaking any 
of them there is found either a bough be- 
tween the two incrusting coats, or a vacant 
space which a bough had once filled, but 
which having mouldered away after a great 
length of time, had left the cavity. After 
dancing over these innumerable cisterns 
the pellucid element divides itself into two 
currents, and then falling in with other 
neighbouring rivulets, composes several 
smaller, but very beautiful falls. 

" The other cascade, though so named 
by the inhabitants, may be more properly 
denominated a cataract, similar to that of 
the Rhine at Shaffhausen, in Switzerland. 



It proceeds from the White River, which is 
of considerable magnitude; and, after a 
course of about twelve miles among the 
mountains, precipitates its waters in a fall 
of about 300 feet, obliquely measured, 
with such a hoarse and thundering noise 
that it is distinctly heard at a very great 
distance. Through the whole descent it is 
broken and interrupted by a regular suc- 
cession of steps, formed by a stalactite 
matter, incrusted over a kind of soft chalky 
stone, which yields easily to the chisel. 
Such a vast discharge of water, thus wide- 
ly agitated by the steepness of the fall, 
dashing and foaming from step to step with 
all the impetuosity and rage peculiar to 
this element, exhibits an agreeable, and, at 
the same time, an awful scene. The gran- 
deur of this spectacle is also astonishingly 
increased by the fresh supplies which the 
torrent receives after the rainy seasons. 
At those periods the roaring of the flood, 
reverberated from the adjacent rocks, trees, 
and hills; the tumultuous violence of the 
cataract rolling down with unremitting 
fury ; and the gloom of the overhanging 
wood, contrasted with the soft serenity of 
the sky, the brilliancy of the spray, the 
flight of birds soaring over the lofty sum- 
mits of the mountains, and the placid sur- 
face of the basin at a little distance from 
the foot of the fall, form an accumulation 
of objects most happily blended together, 
and beyond the power of words to express. 
To complete this animating picture drawn 
by the hand of Nature, or rather of Na- 
ture's God, a considerable number of tall 
and stately trees, beautifully intermixed, 
rise gracefully from the margin on each 
side. The bark and foliage of these trees, 
are diversified by a variety of lovely tints ; 
and from the basin itself two elegant trees 
of the palm species appear like two straight 
columns erected in the water, and tower- 
ing towards the sky, planted at such equal 
distances from the banks on each side, that 
the hand of art could not have effected, by 
rule, more exactness and propriety in the 
positions. 

" Another celebrated curiosity in this 
parish is the wonderful grotto near Dry 
Harbour, about fourteen miles west from 
St. Anne's Bay. It is situated at the foot 
of a rocky hill, under which it runs a con- 
siderable way ; it then branches into seve- 
ral adits, some of which penetrate so far 
that no person has yet ventured to discover 



24 



JAMAICA : 



their termination. The entrance has a 
truly Gothic appearance: it exhibits the 
perpendicular front of a rock, having two 
arched entrances about twenty feet asun- 
der, which seem as if they had been for- 
merly doorways. In the centre of the rock, 
between these portals, is a natural niche 
about four feet in height, and as many from 
the ground. In this niche, it is conjectured, 
that a Madona was placed at some early 
period of time; especially as there is a 
small excavation in the form of a basin at 
the foot of the niche, projecting a little be- 
yond the surface of the rock, and seeming 
to be a proper reservoir for the holy water 
of the Roman Catholics. But this idea 
implies the workmanship of art, and that 
the grotto was anciently inhabited, neither 
of which circumstances is to be traced in 
Long's detailed description of the interior 
recesses, which does not materially differ 
from the descriptions of other grottos and 
subterraneous cavities in various parts of 
the globe." 

In accordance with the original designa- 
tion of the island, springs are abundant, 
especially in the parishes of Kingston, St. 
Andrew, St. Mary, St. George, and St. 
Anne. They are found amidst the highest 
mountains, and meander through almost 
every ravine: several of them posses me- 
dicinal properties, as the Milk River, in the 
parish of Vere, which is thus denominated 
from its warmth and colour. The bath- 
springs, two in number — one cold, the 
other hot — are in the parish of St. David, 
and give to the village in which they are 
found its designation — Bath. They are 
sulphureous and chalybeate, and have been 
found highly beneficial in several disorders, 
particularly in those of a cutaneous kind, 
and in visceral obstructions. 

The water flows out from the hot spring 
at a temperature of 120. They are sub- 
fluvian, and would doubtless, if chemically 
investigated, disclose important geological 
phenomena. Bath is situated in one of the 
healthiest and most beautiful spots on the 
island, and is a great resort for invalids 
recovering from sickness. It is indeed 
considered of so much importance to (he 
public, that it is supported by a yearly 
grant from the House of Assembly. 

The harbours are numerous, and many 
of them are among the most secure and 
extensive in the West Indies. The princi- 
pal of these are Kingston, Port Royal, Old 



Harbour, Port Antonio, and Lucea. "The 
total number is sixteen, besides thirty bays, 
roads, or shipping stations, which afford 
good anchorage." Kingston is a vast 
basin, protected by Port Royal and a nar- 
row strip of land called the Palisades, on 
the one hand, and the Healthshire Hills 
and the promontory, on which stands the 
battery of Fort Augusta, on the other. 
Port Royal is defended in a similar man- 
ner. Old Harbour, or the Sevilla d'Oro 
of Don Juan de Esquimel, which was the 
rendezvous of the Spanish galleons, has 
been denominated the best in the world ; 
and but little inferior to these are the road- 
steads of Port Antonio and Lucea. 



CHAPTER IV. 

VEGETABLE AND ANIMAL PRODUCTIONS. 

Sugar-cane, Coffee, Cocoa, Pimento, Cotton — Indigo, 
Drugs, Corn, Grasses — Garden Vegetables — Fruit, 
Flowers, Trees — Animajs: Wild, Domestic — Birds: 
Wild Fowl, Domestic — Fish — Reptiles — Insects. 

The vegetable and animal productions 
of the island are too numerous to detail. 
The principal of the vegetable productions 
is the sugar-cane, the " arundo sacchari- 
fera" of Linnoeus. It was first introduced 
into St. Domingo about the year 1520 from 
Asia, where it had been cultivated from 
the earliest ages, and from thence into Ja- 
maica in the early part of its settlement by 
the Spaniards. It is a jointed reed ter- 
minating in leaves or blades, the edges of 
which are finely and sharply serrated. The 
intermediate distance between each joint of 
the cane varies from one to three inches 
in length, and from half an inch to an inch 
in diameter. Its height is from three to 
seven feet, and, when ripe, is of a fine straw 
colour. At successive periods since the 
possession of the island by the British, 
several other varieties of this valuable plant 
have been introduced from the South Sea 
Islands and elsewhere. Having been the 
staple commodity of Jamaica and the other 
West India Islands for a series of years, 
the circumstances of its cultivation are too 
well and generally known to render a de- 
scription necessary. In the highlands, and 
on the mountainous slopes, the coffee-plant 
flourishes in almost every variety of soil, 
and usually yields abundant crops. It 
would attain the height of fourteen or fifteen 
feet, but to increase its productiveness it is 



ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 



25 



seldom suffered to exceed four or five feet. 
The leaf is a dark green. It bears a pro- 
fusion of white blossoms, and afterwards 
the berry covered with a red sweetish pulp. 
This valuable plant was introduced into 
Jamaica by Sir Nicholas Lawes in 1728, 
who cultivated it on his own estate called 
Temple Hall, in Liguanee. The cultiva- 
tion of cotton, indigo, and cocoa or choco- 
late, which were once valuable articles of 
export, have long since been discontinued, 
in consequence, as it is said, of the heavy 
duties with which they were charged. Of 
the sixty cocoa-walks which, according to 
Blome, existed in 1672, not one remains, 
and scarcely a trace of the once numerous 
indigo factories. Drugs, dye-stuffs, and 
spices of various kinds of excellent quality, 
here flourish in great prolusion. Of corn, 
the Indian maize only is productive; oats, 
barley and Victoria wheat have been tried 
in the highlands, but have not been culti- 
vated with success. The principal grasses 
cultivated are a valuable species accident- 
ally introduced from Guinea, whence it 
derives its name, and the Scotch grass; 
among the indigenous varieties are the 
pimento and a delicate species, called the 
Bahama grass, of exquisite tint, and which, 
by throwing out elastic fibres, weaves itself 
into a verdant carpet which rivals in beauty 
the finest English lawn. Most of the Eu- 
ropean vegetables grow in the mountainous 
regions with comparatively little trouble 
and expense, and a succession of crops 
may be produced throughout the year — 
cabbages, turnips, parsnips, artichokes, 
cucumbers, leeks, radishes, carrots, lettuce, 
celery, asparagus, peas, potatoes, &c, &c. 
The only exceptions of importance are the 
onion and the cauliflower. But in addition 
to the European esculents are some of na- 
tive growth by no means inferior, as the 
chocho, or vegetable marrow, ocro, Lima 
bean, Indian kale, tomato, or love-apple of 
the ancients, plaintains, bananas, yams of 
several varieties, calalue (a species of spi- 
llage), cassada, and sweet potatoes. 

The fruits of Jamaica are delicious and 
most abundant; and, as with the vegeta- 
bles, every month presents a fresh colla- 
tion. Some species are at maturity during 
the entire year; and not unfrequently are 
to be seen at the same time on the same 
tree blossoms and fruit in all stages of 
growth. There are the bread-fruit, the co- 
coa-nut, the avocado pear, the custa rd-apple, 
3 



the mango, the guava, the lime, the lemon, 
the orange, the citron, the shaddock, the 
tamarind, the soursop, the sweetsop, the 
Spanish plum, the guava, the cashew, the 
papaw, the pomegranate, the grape, the 
fig, the wall and chestnut, the mulberry, 
the naseberry, the star-apple, the date, the 
olive, the melon, the pine-apple, the grana- 
dilla, &c, &c. Few of the European 
fruits are to be found, except the apple and 
the strawberry, and these are degenerated 
both in size and flavour. In different parts 
of the island there is an adaptation of soil 
and climate to the vegetable productions of 
almost every region of the globe, and it is 
a matter of regret that hitherto such little 
attention has been paid to the improvement 
of horticulture. Among other plants much 
might be said of the advantages that would 
result from the cultivation of the sun-flower 
as a substitute for corn, as well as for me- 
dicinal purposes. 

The trees of the island, of which there is 
almost an infinite variety, are peculiarly 
novel in their appearance to an European 
stranger; there is scarcely one which he 
can identify with any in his own land 
Among the most beautiful, both for orna 
ment and use, are the pimento or alspice 
tree, the papaw, the tamarind, the cocoa 
and the palmetto royal. The pimento at 
tains considerable height, and is covered 
with a dark green foliage, often relieved by 
its delicate white blossom. The spice is a 
small berry which grows in bunches, and 
when ripe is like the elder-berry in size 
and colour. Even the leaves of this lovely 
tree, when pressed, emit a strong aromatic 
odour. In the country they are disposed 
in different compartments, or in groves 
crowning the hills and scattered down the 
declivities, exhibiting a clean verdant car- 
pet of grass beneath. When swept by the 
breeze they shed their spicy fragrance 
through the air, imparting a charm to na- 
ture indescribable. So powerful, indeed, 
is the aromatic atmosphere of these groves, 
that they admit no herbaceous production 
to thrive within their shadow. The papaw 
produces a delicious fruit growing as a 
fungus below its capital of long stemmed, 
and broad green leaves. The tamarind', 
besides its fruit, with its umbrageous and 
delicate leaves affords a delicious shade 
both to man and beast. The cocoa or 
chocolate-tree is a native of South America. 
It somewhat resembles the English cherrv- 



26 



JAMAICA: 



tree, and requires a good soil as well as a 
moist and sheltered situation. The mango- 
tree (Magnifera Indica) resembles in form 

[Cocoa -Tree.] 




the horse-chestnut-tree : its fruit is about 
the size of a goose's egg, and some of its 
varieties not unlike an orlean plum in fla- 
vour. The palmetto royal, with its ver- 
dant capital of waving branches, which 
sometimes attains the height of upwards of 
140 feet, furnishes also a delicious vegeta- 
ble. The bombax ceiba, or silk-cotton- 
tree, the baobab, and the wild fig-trees, are 
of gigantic size. The ceiba, when hollowed 
out, has been known to furnish a boat 
capable of containing one hundred persons. 
The branches of the baobab, or great cali- 
bash, extending horizontally, are each, as 
with those of the ceiba, equal to a large 
tree. The most remarkable of the trees is 
the mangrove. It grows in inundated 
spots along the sea, and propagates itself 



by its seed in an astonishing manner. Its 
elastic branches also bending downwards 
upon the loose muddy soil around, strike 
root and grow, and thus the original plant 
diffuses itself in every direction and form. 
The cedar, the mahogany, the black and 
green ebony, the lignum vitas, the fustic, 
the logwood, are too well known to require 
description. In addition to these, and 
which are used in building and in orna- 
mental cabinet-work, are the iron-wood, 
dog-wood, pigeon wood, green-heart, bra- 
zillelto, mahoe, and bully-trees, some of 
which are so compact in grain that they 
will sink in water. The bread-nut, the 
wild lemon, the wild tamarind, and others 
of a softer description, are not less valuable 
for other purposes. Altogether there are 
fifty varieties of excellent timber available 
to the architect, the mill-wright, and the 
cabinet-manufacturer. 

Many of the huge forest-trees display 
thousands of parasitical plants in endless 
varieties, with flowers of the most delicate 
and gorgeous hues. Some of the creepers 
entwine themselves round the trunks of 
these giants of the vegetable world, and, 
throwing out their tendrils from the branches 
on all sides, attach themselves to the ground, 
presenting the appearance of immense ca- 
bles, as if designed to protect these kings 
of the forest from the fury of the elements. 

Of all the plants of smaller growth, per- 
haps the bamboo cane is the most orna- 
mental and useful. Nothing can present 
a more exquisitely beautiful appearance 
than clumps of these rising from eighty to 
a hundred feet in height, and yielding their 
graceful plumes to the breeze, while at the 
same time they afford shade and fodder for 
cattle, and supply some of the most essen- 
tial wants of the husbandman. 

Aromatic shrubs and flowers of every 
variety of size, and which are raised with 
difficulty in the hot-houses of England, 
cover the face of the ground; but generally 
speaking, they are " born to blush unseen, 
and waste their sweetness on the desert 
air." After the autumnal rains the whole 
interior of the country presents the appear- 
ance of an immense garden, while the sur- 
rounding atmosphere is perfumed with the 
most fragrant odour. Very few of the 
European varieties are cultivated, but they 
might be introduced with considerable suc- 
cess. It is lamentable that in a country 
where nature has lavished the choicest of 



ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 



27 



her beauties, and afforded such facilities of 
ornament, that so little taste has been dis- 
played by the inhabitants, and so lit tie in- 
clination manifested to avail themselves of 
these advantages. Among the less attrac- 
tive, indeed, but not less useful plants of 
the wilderness, is the wild pine, which, 
like the " lovely lotus in the boundless and 
arid wastes of Africa, enshrines in her 
bosom the crystal drop for the relief of the 
thirsty traveller."* Some of them are 
said to contain a quart of water, and will 
retain it in certain situations during weeks 
of drought. It was from these sources 
that the Maroons were supplied with re- 
freshment during the extremities to which 
they were frequently reduced in their con- 
flicts with the white inhabitants. The most 
lovely of the indigenous tribes are the 
granidilla, or double passion-flower; the 
night-blowing ceres; the African rose; and 
some of the species of convolvolus and 
acacia ; the cassia alata, with its golden 
clusters; and the splendid mountain-pride. 
Of all the flowers of indigenous growth, 
however, none present such an assemblage 
of floral splendour as the great aloe (agave 
Americana). When in blossom they have 
a most magnificent and striking appear- 
ance. The author has seen several in full 
blossom at one time. The spikes shoot 
out from the centre of the plant, to the 
height of from twelve to fifteen feet, and 
bear branches of flowers in a thyrsus. 
The flowerets are of a bright yellow colour, 
and of a tubular shape. Each spike pro- 
duces hundreds of these brilliant ornaments 
of nature. Emphatically may it besaid : — 

" This is the land where citrons scent the gale, 
Where dwells the orange in the golden vale, 
Where softer zephyrs fan the azure skies, 
Where myrtles grow and prouder laurels rise." 

Of wild animals there were originally 
but eight species : — the monkey, the arma- 
dillo, the opossum, the peccari, the agouti, 
the alco, the muskrat, and the raccoon. 
The only kind of importance that now re- 
mains is the wild hog. A large species of 
this is numerous throughout the woods of 
the interior, and very destructive to provi- 
sion-grounds. On this account, as well as 
for sport, they are sometimes hunted ; but 
the animal being of immense size, and fur- 
nished with large tusks, such excursions 
are extremely dangerous to the assailants. 

* Hodgson. 



The domestic quadrupeds are of European 
origin, and thrive equally with those of the 
temperate zone. The drudgery of planta- 
tion-work, and the conveyance of produce 
to the barquidiers, is usually performed by 
oxen and mules. 

It is notorious that, with the exception 
of the nightingale, or mocking-bird, (turdus 
polyglottus), that extraordinary phenome- 
non of animate nature, but few of the 
feathered tribe are distinguished by the 
variety and melody of their notes. Their 
plumage, however, is exquisitely beautiful, 
and their number, in addition to their va- 
riety in size and colour, affords a fine field 
for the gratifying pursuits of the ornitho- 
logist. The green parrot, the banana-bird, 
the green todie, the small martin, and the 
different species of the humming-bird, are 
the most attractive. The beauty and ele- 
gance of the latter, in form and plumage, 
defy description, exhibiting alternately, as 
it flutters and shifts its position to the sun, 
all the colours of the rainbow, in exquisite 
combination — now a ruby, now a topaz, 
now an emerald, now all burnished gold. 

" On their restless fronts 



Bear stars illumination of all gems." 

Some of them are not larger than a mo- 
derately-sized beetle, and weigh not more 
than twenty grains. The most beautiful 
is the long-tailed species. It has plumes 
of about six inches long, crossing each 
other and expanding themselves into a fan- 
shaped tuft. They are otherwise distin- 
guishable by their long and slender bills. 
The mandibles of the bill are finely toothed, 
or serrated on their edges, and their 
tongues, which are capable of considerable 
extension, are terminated by a small fork. 
This beautiful bird might be much more 
appropriately called the Bird of Paradise 
than that which has now the honour to 
bear the name. 

All European domestic fowls are abun- 
dant. Wild-fowl are to be found during 
some seasons of the year in countless num- 
bers, and most of them are considered of 
delicious flavour. Here is the wild guinea- 
fowl, several varieties of the wild pigeon 
and dove, of the duck, the widgeon, the 
plover, the quail, the snipe, and the orto- 
lan. The ring-tailed pigeon is considered 
the most exquisite of the winged species. 
Aquatic birds of the pelican, the flamingo, 
the gull, the stork, the heron, and the 



28 



JAMAICA 



crane kind, abound in the neighbourhood 
of the coast. Many carnivorous birds are 
found, but of the buzzard varieties (the 
catharles of Wilson) only is known. 
This is vulgarly called the "John Crow." 
Though disgusting in its appearance, it is 
of such utility in clearing the country of 
putrescent carcases, that any person wan- 
tonly destroying one is by an act of the 
legislature subject to a penalty of three 
pounds sterling. 

The sea-coast, rivers, bays, creeks, with 
the ponds of sea and fresh water, abound 
with fish. Of these the calipaver, the 
mullet, the king-fish, barracoota rock-fish, 
grouper, jew-fish, the white-bait, and the 
snapper, are the most delicious, equalling 
any of the best description in Europe. 
The flying-fish, the dolphin, the sword, 
the parrot, the sun, and the boneeto, are 
among the second class ; and the john-a- 
dory, the cutlass, the old wife, the torpedo, 
and the porpoise, among the third. 

The sea-monsters are the sea-cow, the 
devil-fish, and the shark. The sea-cow 
(Trichecus manati) is of enormous size, 
and resembles the animal from which it 
derives its name, both in its form and in 
the quality of its flesh. It is amphibious, 
and is often found grazing on the banks 
of rivers. The devil-fish is flat, of amaz- 
ing breadth, and altogether disgusting in 
appearance. It is harpooned like the whale, 
and yields a valuable oil. Among these 
might with propriety be classed the sword- 
fish. One of these was caught in King- 
ston harbour some months since, measur- 
ing from the point of the sword to the tail 
11 feet 10 inches; length of the sword 
3 feet 5 inches ; extreme breadth at the 
shoulder 1 foot 7 inches ; weight 270 lbs. 
Sharks are numerous, and are of immense 
size and of great voracity. One of these 
monsters was caught some time ago near 
Old Harbour full 10 feet in length, and 
about the girth of the largest sized man. 
There were found in his stomach, on open- 
ing him, fifteen asses'* hoofs and legs from 
the knee downwards, half an undressed 
cow-hide, rolled up for tanning, and a 
piece of beef of about six pounds' weight. 
Both sea and land turtle are plentiful, as 
also oysters, craw-fish, and land-crabs. 



* Asses and mules are imported in large numbers 
from the Spanish Main: probably this huge creature 
had supped heartilv altera shipwreck. 



The oysters are small, and are usually 
found attached to the roots and stems of 
the mangrove, which, obtruding themselves 
into the sea, the oysters fasten upon them. 
This has given rise to the representation 
of oysters growing on trees. Turtle is 
plentiful in the neighbourhood of Kingston 
and Old Harbour: it feeds on sea-grass. 
The female lays an almost incredible num- 
ber of eggs — it is supposed between 800 
and 900. They are caught in nets, by 
the harpoon, or by the hand, by torchlight. 
When laid on the back they are incapable 
of effecting their escape. There are two 
or three species of the land-crab. That 
distinguished by the name of the mountain- 
crab, and which is found in particular dis- 
tricts on the north side of the island, has 
been considered the greatest delicacy in 
the world. The habits of these animals 
are remarkable. In their retreats in the 
mountain districts, which are generally 
about one or two miles from the beach, they 
inhabit the earth and the stumps of trees. 
They go down to the sea once a year to 
deposit their spawn, and perform their 
march in a straight line with the exactest 
order, allowing no obstacle that can be 
surmounted to obstruct their course, even 
climbing over houses and precipitous rocks. 
Here they remain until the young ones 
have attained sufficient size and strength 
for the journey, when they return to their 
habitations followed by the young fry. 
They begin to spawn in December and 
January, and during these months, until 
May, are considered fit for the table, but 
are in their greatest perfection in the season 
of moulting. Another species is found on 
the south side of the island, but of inferior 
quality. During the rainy season they 
swarm, and afford abundant food to the 
poorer classes of both town and country. 
By some creole families they are kept for 
months in barrels, or some other place of 
security, and, being fed with corn and the 
refuse of vegetables, are almost as great a 
delicacy as the mountain species. " These 
are often found in grave-yards, and feed 
and fatten on the dead. Hence, while in 
England the dead are said to be food for 
worms, in Jamaica they are represented 
as food for crabs."* 

Reptiles are numerous, but few of them 
are venomous. Among these are the nu- 

* Martin's Colonies. 



ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 



29 



merous lizard tribe ; the guano, the came- 
lion, the galliwasp, and the alligator, or 
caymen. Of snakes, the silver, the black 
and the yellow. Of the smaller reptiles, 
the centipede and the scorpion. The alli- 
gator is the giant of the saurian race ; it 
infests the rivers and lagoons near the sea, 
and is frequently to be found in the neigh- 
bourhood of Kingston, Old Harbour, Salt 
River, and Alligator Pond, on the south- 
ern coast. They are from twelve to fif- 
teen feet in length, and, notwithstanding 
assertions to the contrary, do not hesitate, 
under certain circumstances, to attack 
man, as on the authority of the public 
prints, two or three individuals have been 
killed by them within the last three years. 
The female generally lays between thirty 
and forty eggs ; she deposits them com- 
monly in some sunny spot on the sea- 
beach, covering them over with sand. 
They are hatched by the heat of the sun 
in about thirty days after they are laid, at 
which time both the male and female alli- 
gators return. As soon as the young ones 
are hatched they are borne by the female 
on her back into the sea, when she teaches 
them to swim. The eggs have a highly 
enamelled surface, are of a whitish colour, 
and about the size of those of the Muscovy 
duck. The smaller species of lizard is so 
domesticated that it may be considered a 
regular inmate of every dwelling, as are 
also centipedes and scorpions. The stings 
of the latter have been known to occasion 
death. Snakes will sometimes defend 
themselves against an attack by man, but 
their bite is rarely known to prove fatal. 
The yellow snake sometimes grows to the 
length of ten feet ; it is remarkably indo- 
lent, and is killed and eaten by some of 
the African tribes. These reptiles are nu- 
merous in some districts, and not unfre- 
quently infest dwelling-houses in the coun- 
try. The writer has in two or three in- 
stances found them in houses which he has 
occupied, and once narrowly escaped hav- 
ing a black snake for his bedfellow. An 
occurrence of this kind is related as hav- 
ing actually taken place. A large yellow 
snake finding its way through the jealou- 
sies* of a plantation-house, coiled itself 
up on the bed in which a gentleman was 
sleeping ; feeling something press heavily 
upon him in the morning, he opened his 

* A large description of fixed Venetian blind. 



eyes, and to his amazement and horror be- 
held a huge snake close upon his body. 
He was so terror-stricken that he could 
neither move nor call for assistance, and 
in this situation continued until relieved 
by a negro servant, who had come into his 
apartment to ascertain the cause of his not 
having left liis room at his usual hour. It 
is scarcely necessary to add that the rep- 
tile atoned for its temerity by its life. 

Insects crawl upon the ground and float 
in the atmosphere as numerous as dense 
forests, gloomy caverns, stagnant waters, 
and a tropical sun can quicken them into 
life. Ants, cockroaches, fire-flies, mosqui- 
toes, sand-flies, chigoes, spiders, bees, and 
wasps. Ants cover the whole surface of 
the soil, and so completely infest the repo- 
sitories of food, that the ingenuity of in- 
dustrious and cleanly housewives is se- 
verely taxed for expedients to preserve 
them from their depredations. The white, 
or wood-ant, displays on a larger scale the 
arts and organization for which the spe- 
cies is so famed in England, and is parti- 
cularly destructive to houses. Cockroaches 
are another formidable foe to domestic 
cleanliness and economy. The fire-fly is 
a beautiful and harmless insect, of a gray- 
ish colour, and about the size of a common 
beetle. It emits a brilliant light from two 
globular orbs just above the eye ; and the 
millions of them that in the country flutter 
among the trees and in the cane-fields on a 
dark night have a most interesting appear- 
ance. They resemble a kind of second 
firmament of luminous points moving with 
all the eccentric courses of comets and me- 
teoric balls, and with all the glory that 
tracks the shooting stars — 

" And every hedge and copse is bright 
With the quick fire-fly's playful light; 
Like thousands of the sparkling gems 
Which blaze in eastern diadems." 

The light which they emit is so conside- 
rable that the cruel practice exists anion" - 
the negroes of making them subserve the 
use of candles by securing a number of 
them in a glass or other transparent vessel. 
The way in which they are most easily 
caught is by blowing a fiery stick, thus 
keeping up a kind of intermitting light si- 
milar to that produced by themselves. But 
of all the insect tribes the most annoying 
is the mosquito, especially to new-comers. 
It would appear that they have an aversion 
to blood in which the serum is in excess 



30 



JAMAICA 



through disease, or in which the blood is 
otherwise changed in its constituent princi- 
ples ; as it consists with universal experi- 
ence that a European newly arrived is 
much more liable to their attacks than a 
native, or an individual who has been for 
any length of time in the country. It is 
scarcely distinguishable from the common 
gnar by ordinary observers. They some- 
times fill the atmosphere ; and, being fur- 
nished with a proboscis for puncturing the 
skin, attack the uncovered parts of the 
body, or those but slightly defended, and 
cover them with blisters, which create 
such an intolerable itching as have occa- 
sioned very serious consequences to the 
sufferers. 

As a necessary protection against their 
attacks by night, the beds are commonly 
surrounded by curtains of light gauze, or, 
as it is called, mosquito-net. In some si- 
tuations, owing to their numbers and the 
fierceness of their attacks, the sensation 
they produce is scarcely endurable; and 
the only means of obtaining partial relief 
is by kindling a fire, and creating clouds 
of smoke. The bite of the small black 
spider and tarantula is sometimes fatal. 
The cell of the latter is perhaps one of the 
greatest of natural curiosities. Bees are 
numerous ; and, if cultivated and preserv- 
ed from ants and other enemies, would be- 
come a source of considerable profit. 

The sand-fly is a very minute dipterous 
insect, which abounds on the sea-shore. It 
is formidable from its numbers ; punctur- 
ing the skin in the same manner as the 
mosquito, and occasioning the same sensa- 
tions as that insect. 

The chigo is a species of acarus. It 
penetrates the skin of the toes and feet ; 
once secured in the cavity it has thus 
formed, it constructs a bag or nest, — there 
deposits its eggs, and hatches a numerous 
progeny. The bag is extracted by a nee- 
dle ; and, when full grown, is of the size 
and appearance of a blue pea. If suffered 
to remain in the flesh for any length of 
time, its progeny would so augment, each 
young one producing a separate bag, as to 
occasion violent inflammation, and proba- 
bly amputation of the limb. 

The guinea-worm (filaria aredinensis) a 
dangerous and disgusting animal, is para- 
sitic in man- It has been found in negroes 
imported from Africa from six to twelve 
feet in length. It is usually found in the 



thick part of the leg, or round the eye, 
and sooner or later destroys the life of its 
victim. 



CHAPTER V. 



DIVISIONS. 



Counties — Parishes — Roads — Towns — Villages — 
Houses ; exterior appearance and interior arrange- 
ment. 

The island is divided into three coun- 
ties — Middlesex, Surrey, and Cornwall ; 
and these are subdivided into twenty-three 
parishes. It contains six towns and twen- 
ty-seven villages, independently of those 
which have been recently established by 
the peasantry. The principal of the old 
settlements are St. Jago de la Vega, or 
Spanish Town, the capital ; Kingston, Port 
Royal, Montego Bay, Falmouth, Savanna- 
la-Mar, Lucea, Morant Bay, Port Antonio, 
Annotto Bay, Port Maria, St. Anne's Bay, 
Black River, and Old Harbour. 

Spanish Town is situated on the banks 
of the Rio Cobre, nearly at the extremity 
of a noble plain, bounded by the Cedar 
Valley Mountains on the N. and N.W., 
and is six miles distant from the sea at Port 
Henderson and Passage Fort. A large 
square occupies the centre of the town, 
formed by public buildings in the Spanish 
American style, which are extensive, and 
display considerable architectural taste. 
Government House — including beneath 
the same roof the Council Chamber, Court 
of Chancery, and various other offices — 
occupies the whole of the west side. It is 
considered the most substantial and com- 
modious of any building of a similar kind 
in the West Indies, and was erected by the 
colonists at the cost of 50,000/. A range 
of equal extent, called the House of As- 
sembly, but which includes the County 
Court-House, and the offices of judicial and 
other functionaries, stands directly oppo- 
site. At one end of the northern range is 
the Arsenal and Guard-House ; at the other, 
the offices of the Island Secretary, con- 
nected by a temple that contains a statue of 
Lord Rodney, erected in commemoration 
of his victory over the French fleet in 
1782, and a beautiful semicircular colon- 



ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 



31 



nade. Corresponding with this, to a con- 
siderable degree, is a range on the south 
side, containing magnificent rooms for pub- 
lic amusements, and offices for miscellane- 
ous public purposes. A considerable por- 
tion of the area thus formed contains a 
garden in beautiful order, intersected by 
gravel walks. Ornamented by choice trees, 
flowers, and shrubs, and protected from 
spoliation by elegant palisades, it creates a 
rational source of recreation and amuse- 
ment to the elite of the town, for which 
they are indebted to the taste and public 
spirit of Mr. Custos Ramsay. The Bar- 
racks, the Church, the Wesleyan- Chapel, 
and the premises of the Baptist Missionary 
Society, in addition to a kw beautiful vil- 
las that adorn the suburbs of the town, are 
the principal objects of attraction to the 
stranger. The population is estimated at 
about 10,000. 

Kingston, the great commercial city, 
and which contains a population of about 
40,000 inhabitants, stands on a gentle slope 
of the Liguanea Mountains (immediately 
in the rear), which form a part of the 
highest ridge of the Blue Mountain chain. 
It is terminated on the east by a small bat- 
tery, called Rock Fort ; on the west by an 
extensive lagoon on the road to Spanish 
Town and Passage Fort ; and on the south 
by Fort Augusta and the narrow channel 
by which it is approached from Port Roy- 
al, from the latter of which it appears al- 
most enclosed by a semicircular ridge of 
mountains. 

The streets are long, formed in straight 
lines, intersecting each other at right an- 
gles. As with Jamaica towns in general, 
many of the streets are narrow and dirty ; 
and all of them being at the same time un- 
paved, and infested with domestic animals, 
reflect but little credit on the city authori- 
ties. The houses of the principal inhabi- 
tants are chiefly two stories high, and are 
enclosed with spacious verandahs in the 
French and Spanish style. The Church,* 
the Chapels of Ease, the Scotch Kirk, two 
of the Wesleyan and one of the Baptist 
chapels, are large, substantial, and beauti- 
ful buildings, as are also the Court House, 
the Military Establishment at Up Park 
Camp, and the villas, half hidden by the 



* Beneatli the altar of the church lies Admiral 
Benbow, and in another burying-place is a tomb 
which bears the arms and name of the noble family 
of the Talbots. 



aromatic trees and shrubs that adorn the 
skirts of the town, and the slopes of Li- 
guanea. 

Port Royal occupies the extremity of 
the narrow peninsula which is connected 
with the main land on the east of Kingston 
and Port Royal harbours. The town, but 
a miserable wreck of its former greatness, 
is ornamented with several large and beau- 
tiful buildings belonging to the naval and 
military departments, together with some 
handsome and capacious private houses. 
It presents an imposing appearance from 
the sea; groves of cocoa-nut trees in state- 
ly columns, waving their verdant branches 
among the buildings ; but the streets are 
irregular and narrow, and the town alto- 
gether possesses but little claim to cleanli- 
ness. Once a place of the greatest wealth 
and importance in the New World, it is 
now perhaps the poorest and most wretch- 
ed ; an occurrence which, owing to the 
short-sighted policy of the Legislature, and 
the " spirit and manners of the age," was 
consummated by the removal of the dock- 
yard to Canada, and its consequent aban- 
donment as the chief naval station in the 
West Indian and North American colonies. 

Montego Bay towards the N.W. extre- 
mity of the island, and the chief town of 
the parish of St. James, is situated nearly 
in the centre of an amphitheatre of moun- 
tains, opening only in one direction to- 
wards the sea. It is considered a flourish- 
ing and opulent town ; the private build- 
ings are in general neat and picturesque, 
having usually a garden in front, display- 
ing flowering shrubs, shaded by aromatic 
trees. The streets are wide and tolerably 
clean. With the exception of the Baptist 
Chapel, the Court House, and the parish 
church, it contains no public buildings of 
magnitude and importance. The square 
and the market-place are spacious and con- 
veniently situated, but require a little more 
of the elaborations of art to render them 
agreeable as places of resort, whether for 
purposes of business or pleasure. 

Falmouth, formerly Martha Brae, stands 
on the west side of the Harbour, and is 
the chief town and sea-port of the parish 
of Trelawney. It is of considerable mag- 
nitude, and is increasing both in extent 
and commerce. The houses are mostly 
built of wood, and are two stories high, 
neat in external appearance, but, as is the 
case in general on the north side of the 



32 



JAMAICA 



island, exhibiting a very unfinished inte- 
rior. The characterof thetown is American. 
It contains some good public buildings, 
among which are the Church, the Baptist 
and Wesleyan Chapels, the Scotch Kirk, 
the Court House, and the Barracks. It 
possesses also the convenience of a sup- 
ply of fresh water for domestic purposes 
by means of an hydraulic machine. As at 
Montego Bay, the stores and shops are 
well supplied with merchandise, and the 
town presents a clean and rural appear- 
ance. 

Intersected by several fine rivers, and 
nearly surrounded by mountains and hills 
enclosing a highly cultivated district, the 
neighbourhood of Savanna-la-mar is inte- 
resting if not imposing, but the town, the 
principal one of the parish of Westmore- 
land, situated on an alluvial flat on the 
beach, is low and unhealthy. It was once 
nearly destroyed by an earthquake, and 
seems now ready to submerge in the sea. 
Some good and substantial houses occupy 
the principal street, which runs in a straight 
line from the shore, and some pleasant 
villas are seen in the suburbs, but it is not 
distinguished for its public buildings, or its 
social and parochial regulations. The Bap- 
tist Chapel, a neat and substantial building, 
was lately destroyed by fire, but it has 
been rebuilt, and is an ornament to the 
town. Lucea, Saint Anne's Bay, Port 
Maria, and Port Antonio, the chief town of 
the parish of Hanover, St. Anne's, St. 
Mary, and Portland are next in considera- 
tion, all of which are increasing rapidly in 
extent and importance, and are among the 
most picturesque and improving on the 
island. 

The houses in general are of various 
style and construction. In the country 
they are built chiefly of wood. In some 
instances they are raised on a foundation 
of stone, in others on pedestals of stone or 
wood from two to six feet from the ground. 
The buildings of estates are usually of 
stone, and in the towns on the south side 
of the island they are principally of stone 
or brick. For the admission of light and 
air, some are protected from the sun and 
rain, either wholly or in part, by jealou- 
sies, or by these and sash windows, with 
Venetian blinds. To most of the houses 
is attached either a piazza enclosed by jea- 
lousies or an open colonnade. These, be- 
ing usually painted green and white, pre- 



sent a neat and interesting appearance. 
The inner apartments commonly consist of 
a spacious hall, a sitting-room, with bed- 
rooms, and other smaller apartments ; 
many of them are elegantly furnished, and 
exhibit floors of polished mahogany and 
cedar. The kitchen, accommodation for 
the servants, and rooms for domestic and 
other purposes, are situated at a distance 
from the dwelling-house, or are, at least, 
detached from it, and usually form three 
sides of a square in the rear of the dwell- 
ing-house, leaving a court-yard in the 
centre, shaded by an umbrageous tree. 
Altogether, the interior of the towns and 
villages in the island is far from being pre- 
possessing to a stranger, especially as com- 
pared with the towns and villages of the 
other islands, exhibiting the unsightly as- 
pect of dirty streets, noisy inhabitants, and 
miserable hovels intermixed with substan- 
tial and spacious houses. In their exter- 
nal appearance, however, most of the 
towns and villages present to the eye of an 
European a picture inexpressibly refresh- 
ing and lovely, adorned by the cocoa-nut- 
tree, the palm, the orange, the shaddock, 
the lime, together with the umbrageous ta- 
marind, the box, and the kenap, which in- 
tercept the fierce rays of the sun, and af- 
ford a shadow which the panting inhabi- 
tants both appreciate and enjoy ; whilst, in 
their suburbs studded with sugar and cof- 
fee plantations, the eye roams over fields 
of fresh and vivid green, every where in- 
terspersed with groves of towering cocoa- 
palms, plantains, and bananas of rich and 
variegated foliage, mingled with plants and 
flowering shrubs of every diversity of 
form, tint, and perfume. 

The Roads in Jamaica are a disgrace to 
a civilized community, and militate consi- 
derably against its agricultural prosperity. 
Immense sums of money are annually 
voted from the parochial taxes and the ge- 
neral revenue for their repair, but to little 
purpose. Even the lines of communica- 
tion between the principal towns are very 
little belter than river courses, which place 
the life of every traveller in jeopardy. 
Deaths from this cause indeed are of fre- 
quent occurrence. Proposals were made 
by the legislature at its last sitting to re- 
medy this great public inconvenience ; and 
it is hoped that the arrangements for the 
purpose will be economical, effective, and 
permanent. 



ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 



33 



The whole island presents evident ap- 
pearances of volcanic origin,* and on the 
summit of one of the mountains in the pa- 
rish of St. George, about 3000 feet above 
the level of the sea, there exists the appear- 
ance of an extinct crater. It has never 
been known, however, to exhibit any vol- 
canic action. Great variety of soil is 
found in the island. In some districts it is 
chalky and calcareous, in others, a brick 
loam of a chocolate colour prevails. Some 
of the hills are composed of a red uncohe- 
sive earth containing a mixture of carbo- 
nate of iron. A deep black vegetable 
mould and a purple loam of extraordinary 
vigour usually occurs in valleys in the im- 
mediate neighbourhood of the high moun- 
tain ranges. This quality of soil is not 
unfrequently found in other situations, and 
is best adapted for the growth of the su- 
gar-cane and coffee. In the mountain dis- 
tricts a substratum of dark rich mould of 
considerable depth is found studded with 
large masses of lime-stone rock, usually 
cultivated as provision-grounds. A fine 
earth is found by the Rio Cobre in Spanish 
Town, as also in the neighbourhood of 
Kingston, from which excellent bricks are 
made. Many of the mountains are cover- 
ed with lime-stone, and in some places on 
the coast they oppose an abrupt barrier to 
the sea. They consist generally of secon- 
dary lime-stone, associated with deposits 
of sand-stone, and are commonly of calca- 
reous formation. In addition to the white 
lime-stone as one of the principal rocks, is 
the graywacke and the trap-rock, the lat- 
ter of which indicates the action of fire. 
Bastard marble, subcrystalline spar, and 
lamellated amianthus, occur in some of the 
parishes in large masses. Marl is formed 
in many parts of the island, and strata of 
argillaceous earth. Whole mountains are 
tIso composed entirely of carbonate of 
lime. Rock-spar is abundant in the parish 
of St. Anne ; and in other parts, white 

* " The appearance of these tropical islands," says 
the estimable author of ' A Winter in the West In- 
dies,' " rising suddenly from the sea, and forming 
steep pyramidal elevations, sometimes of bare rock, 
other times covered with greenness, leads one to trace 
their existence to some vast impulse from below. 
There can be little doubt, I suppose, that they are in 
general of volcanic origin ; and that they are not of 
that fathomless antiquity to which some of the geolo- 
gical strata pretend, is plainly evinced by the circum- 
stance that the fossil shells and corals, which are 
found embedded in their mountain tops, are often 
precisely the same kinds as are still discovered in the 
Caribbean seas." 



free-stone and quartz. The former on the 
north side of the island forms whole strata, 
and constitutes rocks of amazing magni- 
tude. Maritime and land shells abound in 
the great alluvial plains, and coral banks, 
and madrepores, those magnificent orna- 
ments of the sea, are found in several parts 
near the coast, as are numerous vestiges 
of organic bodies ; whilst on the tops of 
the mountains both animal and vegetable 
fossils of an extraneous kind occur. Caves 
and caverns, some of them of very consi- 
derable extent, and which are supposed to 
be connected with the early history of the 
aboriginal inhabitants, are numerous, and 
would abundantly repay the investigations 
of the geologist. 

Several varieties of lead and iron ores 
are contained in the mountains of Liguanea 
near Kingston, as also several species of 
copper ores and striated antimony. A lead- 
mine was opened some years since in the 
same parish ; but it was discontinued, more, 
it is supposed, on account of want of en- 
terprise and public spirit than from any 
deficiency either in the quality or abun- 
dance of the mineral. A copper-mine in 
the same neighbourhood is now in progress 
of being worked, and, if prosecuted ivith 
vigour, promises considerable pecuniary ad- 
vantages to the company by whom its 
operations are undertaken. " The Health- 
shire hills," says Bridges, " are reported to 
have furnished the copper which compos- 
ed the bells of the Abbey church in Spanish 
Town." 

Particles of golden mica have been found 
in districts near the source of the Rio Cobre, 
and sometimes, near Spanish Town, it has 
been seen incorporated with potter's clay. 
Gold and silver particles were evidently 
found in different parts of the country by 
the Spaniards, especially in the bed of the 
Rio Mina in Clarendon, as the remains of 
lavaderos or basins are still to be seen in 
which they were cleaned from their solu- 
ble and extraneous cohesions. 

Situated within eighteen degrees of the 
equator, it will naturally be conceived that 
the climate is of a higher temperature than 
that of Europe. The thermometer ranges 
in the lowlands, throughout the year, be- 
tween 70° and 80° of Fahrenheit, and in 
the mountains variously, according to their 
elevation, from 50° to 75°. Were it not 
for the sea and land breezes, which blow 
the greater part of the day and night, al- 



34 



JAMAICA: 



temately, throughout the year, and the 
masses of cloud which often interpose be- 
tween the fierce rays of the sun, the heat 
in the towns on the coast, during some 
seasons of the year, would be almost insup- 
portable. The sea breeze usually blows 
on the south side of the island, from the 
south-east. It commences in the morning 
and gradually increases until the middle of 
the day; it then diminishes, and dies away 
at about five o'clock. The land breeze 
usually sets in between seven and eight 
o'clock in the evening, increasing until 
midnight, and ceases about four in the 
morning. The former of these breezes is 
occasioned by the cold air moving towards 
those parts in which the air is rarefied by 
the sun's heat ; and the latter by the hot 
rarefied air of the plains ascending to the 
summits of the mountains, where, being 
condensed by cold, and made consequently 
specifically heavier, it descends back in a 
current to the lowlands. The balmy fresh- 
ness and salutary influences of these cur- 
rents can scarcely be conceived by those 
who have never experienced the fervent 
heat of the torrid zone. 

The air is usually buoyant and elastic, 
almost uniformly equal in pressure, and ex- 
erting an enlivening influence on the spirits. 
The temperature of the mountains alter- 
nates at some periods of the year eight or 
ten degrees ; but, unlike many parts of the 
United States, in the same degree of lati- 
tude, it is not subject to sudden transitions. 
The coolest and most pleasant months 
range from November to April, and the 
hottest and most insalubrious from May to 
October. 

During the intervals that elapse morn- 
ing and evening, between the blowing of 
the sea and land breezes, as well as during 
the middle of the day, at all seasons of the 
year, the heat in the lowlands is dreadfully 
oppressive, but in the earlier hours of the 
morning, from four to seven o'clock, the 
coolness, freshness, and fragrancy of the 
air is delightful. Owing to the great rarity 
of the atmosphere there is no twilight, and 
the shortest day is of two hours' less dura- 
tion than the longest, thus averaging twelve 
hours from January to December. There 
is a difference of four hours and a half in 
the time of Jamaica and England. When 
it is eight o'clock a.m. in London it is half 
past twelve p.m. in Kingston. The ther- 
mometer of Fahrenheit seldom varies 



throughout the whole year more than ten 
degrees. In the hottest months, on the 
plains, the difference between the tempera- 
ture of noonday and midnight is not greater 
than six degrees. The medium tempera- 
ture of the air may be said to be 75° of 
Fahrenheit. In the hottest months, July 
and August, it is sometimes as high as 
100° in the shade, and in the mountains it 
has been known as low as 49°. 

Considerable variation is observable in 
different parts of the island in the seasons 
of the year. Some individuals divide them 
into four, as in Europe, but generally they 
are distinguished by wet and dry. The 
wet seasons range from May to June and 
from October to November. They are 
usually preceded, especially in the spring, 
by coruscations of lightning and peals of 
thunder, reverberating from peak to peak 
of the distant mountains, truly appalling to 
a stranger in the tropics. The horizon 
thickens with lurid clouds that roll their 
dense masses along the troubled atmo- 
sphere; suddenly the tempest bursts; the 
rain falls in torrents — sometimes almost 
without intermission for eight or ten suc- 
cessive days, at other times during a period 
of several hours each day through several 
weeks. In the former case torrents dash 
down the ravines of the mountains with 
dreadful impetuosity, tearing up huge forest 
trees in their course, forming hundreds of 
cascades, rendering rivers impassable, and 
deluging the towns and villages of the 
plains. Fifty inches of water, it is estimat- 
ed, fall on an average throughout the year. 
The war of elements, as it has been often 
witnessed at these seasons by the writer, 
from the summit of a high mountain chain, 
is awfully and almost inconceivably impos- 
ing. Vast masses of clouds are collected, 
and stand like pyramids on the surround- 
ing eminences. A black volume, deeply 
charged with electricity, passes majestical- 
ly along, when suddenly pierced by the 
spiral tops of the fixed groups it acts on 
them like the discharges of an electric jar, 
and streaming and vivid lightning pours in 
all directions through the vast expanse, 
tearing immense forest trees to atoms, and 
carrying swift destruction in its course. 
At length the clouds disperse, and the clear 
blue sky appears — the glorious sun again 
flings abroad his beams, and the tropical 
summer reigns in all its glory. The sky 
is now tranquil, and all nature is dressed 



ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 



35 



in her richest livery. Nor is the night 
now less serene and beautiful ; not a cloud 
floats over the azure sky ; the stars shed 
their light with but little scintillation ; the 
splendid southern constellation nearly en- 
circles the heavens. Venus, like the moon, 
throws her shadows from the greater ob- 
jects around, and the sovereign of night, 
assuming an almost vertical position, seems 
to rule as mistress of a milder day. There 
are, perhaps, but few places on the globe 
to which these lines of Homer can apply 
with greater exactness than to a West In- 
dian summer's night : — 

" As when the moon, refulgent lamp of night. 
O'er heaven's clear azure spreads her sacred light: 
When not a breath disturbs the deep serene, 
And not a cloud o'ercasts the solemn scene; 
Around her throne the vivid planets roll, 
And stars unnumber'd gild the glowing pole : 
O'er the dark trees a yellower lustre shed, 
And tip with silver every mountain's head : 
Then shine the vales, the rocks in prospect rise, 
A flood of glory bursts from all the skies ; 
The conscious swains, rejoicing in the sight, 
Eye the blue vault, and bless the useful light." 

With proper attention to dress and diet, 
with temperance in the use of food, fruit, 
and wholesome beverage ; with care against 
exposure to the mid-day rays of the sun ; 
with moderate exercise of body and mind, 
together with other cautions which common 
prudence will suggest to every reflecting 
mind — the climate is by no means so insa- 
lubrious, nor is the heat so oppressive, as 
is generally supposed, being more charac- 
terized by its duration than its intensity. 
The reported unhealthiness of the climate 
has arisen, in a great measure, from the 
frequent and excessive mortality of the 
troops — for obvious causes a very unfair 
criterion by which to judge. Nor is it to 
be estimated by its past influence on Euro- 
pean life in general, as it would probably 
appear, on investigation, that the mortality 
has been in most cases occasioned by in- 
temperance or imprudence.* 

* Mr. Long remarks, with consid'>rab!e ndiveti, and 
not a little truth, that "The European keeps late 
hours at night ; lounges a-bed in the morning; gor- 
mandizes at dinner on loads of flesh, fish, and fruits; 
loves roijrnant sauces ; dilutes with ale, porter, punch, 
claret, and Madeira, frequently jumbling all together; 
and continues this mode of living, till by constantly 
manuring his stomach with such an heterogeneous 
compost, he has laid the foundation for a plentiful 
crop of ailments. JNot that this portrait serves for all 
of them: there are many who act on a more rational 
plan ; though almost all transgress in some point or 
other. They who have attained to the greatest age 
here were always early risers, temperate livers in 
general, inured to moderate exercise, and avoiders of 
excess in eating." 



In the mountainous regions it will pro- 
bably vie in point of salubrity with that 
of any tropical climate in the world ; an 
opinion sustained by Dr. Adolphus, Her 
Majesty's late inspector-general of hospi- 
tals in Jamaica, and by Sir James Clark, 
Her Majesty's physician : the one from 
personal experience and observation, the 
other in his work on the sanitive influence 
of climate. Sir James Clark recommends 
it as a safe temporary retreat* to invalids 
in the early stages of consumption. The 
principal disease to which Europeans are 
here subject are fevers and dysentery, both 
of which might be considerably alleviated, 
if not in some instances avoided, by timely 
precaution. The author has personally 
known several persons, both white, colour- 
ed, and black, who have attained the age 
of from one hundred to one hundred and 
forty years. On these accounts, and for 
reasons relating to temporal circumstances, 
there is perhaps no part of the world to 
which European farmers, with small capi- 
tal and large families, could so advantage- 
ously emigrate. The following precau- 
tions, by the Rev. M. Hough, B.A., for- 
merly a missionary in the East Indies, 
with a few alterations, may be rendered 
applicable to the West. 

" I have said that life is often endanger- 
ed by imprudence as well as other causes. 
This suggests a few observations that may 
be useful to future missionaries. Many 
good men, by inattention to their health 
and heedless exposure to the sun, have in- 
capacitated themselves for labour almost 
as soon as they have arrived. A mis- 
sionary may not immediately feel any in- 
convenience from the heat, but he should 
not too readily calculate upon exemption 
from its usual influence upon the European 
constitution. The power of a vertical sun 



* Sir James, in speaking of the climate of Jamaica, 
sa y S . — "The temperature of the mountainous dis- 
tricts, averages, from January to April, in the early 
morning, 55 degrees ; in the afternoon, 70. From 
April to June, 60 ; in the afternoon, 75. From June 
to September, 65 ; in the afternoon, 80. From Sep- 
tember to December, 68 ; in the afternoon, 75. This 
may be considered the mean temperature of a series 
of years." (P. 313.)— He adds — "Convalescents from 
other parts of the island often derive considerable 
benefit from a residence of a few weeks only in this 
region. It is also a safe temporary retreat for con- 
sumptive as well as other invalids. Lucea, also, has 
a high reputation for salubrity among the inhabitants, 
and is often resorted to by convalescents. The cli- 
mate is cool and pleasant, except during the months 
of July, August, and September." (P. 314.) 



36 



JAMAICA: 



is indescribable, and very few persons in- 
deed are able with impunity to expose 
themselves to its fervid rays. A mis- 
sionary should never go out uncovered 
during the day. In moving about among 
the schools and other objects requiring his 
attention in the immediate vicinity of his 
home, he ought always to hold an umbrella 
over his head; and when his duties call 
him to any distance, he should go if possi- 
ble in a covered vehicle. To walk a mile 
in a tropical sun, ivith the heat reflected 
upon you from the ground, and burning 
your feet as well as scorching you from 
above, will generally exhaust the powers 
of the body, and consequently depress the 
energies of the mind to such a degree as 
to render you incapable of attending to the 
duty you went to perform. 

" In tropical climates regularity is the 
grand secret of health. Regularity in every- 
thing — in exercise, rest, food, and study. 
In most European constitutions the sto- 
mach soon becomes deranged by the ex- 
cessive heat and change of diet ; but its 
health is most likely to be preserved by a 
careful attention to the wholesome quality 
of food, by moderation in the quantity, and 
regularity in the hours of repast. In his 
native land a healthy person may despise 
such precautions, finding them to be unne- 
cessary ; but to neglect them in hot coun- 
tries will soon prove fatal to the constitu- 
tion. 

" Exercise should be taken in the cool 
of the day, before sun-rise, and about sun- 
set. The morning is greatly to be pre- 
ferred, as the air is then fresh and the 
ground cool from the dew; whereas in the 
evening, both are often too much heated to 
refresh you. In order, therefore, to pre- 
serve your health, and keep yourself fresh 
and active for your important work, you 
should always be out at day-break, and 
home again if possible before the sun has 
been up half an hour. I have frequently 
felt exposure to the sun for the first half- 
hour of the day deprive me of the refresh- 
ment received from the previous exercise. 
Journeys should always be performed early 
in the morning or towards the decline of 
the day. To enable you to rise at an early 
hour you should retire early to rest, other- 
wise you may suffer as much inconve- 
nience from the want of sufficient sleep as 
from any other cause. 

"The degree and description of exercise 



to be taken must be regulated by every in- 
dividual's constitution; in general, gentle 
exercise is most conducive to the preserva- 
tion of health. It is of great importance 
to attend to the first symptoms of indispo- 
sition. A slight headache might be at- 
tended with fatal consequences if neglect- 
ed, as it would generally arise from some 
obstruction of the system." 

Let not these hints be thought irrelevant 
to our present design. The necessity of 
attending to his health cannot be too for- 
cibly impressed on a missionary's mind, 
and cannot be more appropriately given 
than in a missionary work. 

Storms and Hurricanes* are less fre- 
quent in Jamaica than in Barbadoes and 
some of the other Caribbean islands, or 
even than they were in Jamaica formerly. 
They, however, occasionally occur, carry- 
ing devastation and misery in their train. 
To one of these awful visitations of the 
Almighty, although by no means so terri- 
ble and destructive as those which occurred 
in 1786 and 1815, the author was an eye- 
witness. It began its desolating course in 
the middle of the night, and, with the ex- 
ception of a few short intervals, during 
which it seemed to be gathering fresh 
energy in order to renew its assaults with 
greater violence, continued until nearly the 
middle of the following day. 

It was preceded by an awful stillness oc- 
casionally broken by an indistinct sound 
resembling the roaring of a cataract, or 
the blowing of winds through a forest, by 
an intermission of the diurnal breeze, — by 
an almost insupportable heat, the ther- 
mometer standing at between 95° and 100° 
of Fahrenheit, — by vast accumulations of 
vapour moving in the direction of the 
mountains, — by flocks of sea-gulls, — by a 
deep portentous gloom gradually increas- 
ing and overspreading the hemisphere, — 
by all the omens, indeed, which are said to 
be their precursors. From three o'clock 
until nearly the break of day, the lightning 
was terrific beyond description ; illuminat- 
ing the whole concave of heaven, and dart- 
ing apparently in ten thousand fantastic 
forms, whilst the reverberations of the 
thunder, echoed back by the distant moun- 



* Hurricanes are so called from the Indian word 
hurrica. They are violent tempests of wind, which 
generally happen a day or two before the full or new- 
moon nest the autumnal equinox in August and Sep- 
tember. 



ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 



37 



tains, seemed to shake the pillars of the 
earth, as if commissioned to seal the doom 
of the world- The rain descended in tor- 
rents, and an awful, deep, and compact 
gloom overshadowed the face of nature. 
The morning of the deluge could scarcely 
have presented an aspect more dismal. It 
was a period of fearful suspense and terror. 
The wind began to blow from the north, 
but on attaining the acme of its violence, 
it blew from all parts of the compass, and 
carried ruin on its wings. In every direc- 
tion were dismantled houses, shattered 
fences, uprooted trees, and the ground 
strewed with shingles, splinters, branches 
of trees, fruit, and leaves. The writer's 
garden was a wilderness, and his dwelling 
house shook to its foundation. Every habi- 
tation around was closed, every crevice 
filled up, and every tenant in total dark- 
ness. All business was of course suspend- 
ed, and not an individual to be seen but at 
intervals, when one cautiously appeared to 
acquaint himself with his situation, and to 
view the desolation around. Nothing was 
to be seen or heard but the pelting of the 
storm and the continued sighs of elemental 
tumult. 

" Venti vis 

Interdum rapido percurrens turbini compos 
Arboribus magno sternit montesque supremo, 
Silvefragis vetat flabris."* Lucretius, lib. i., 1272. 

The last earthquake in Jamaica was 
that of 1692, which engulfed Port Royal; 
shocks, however, are of very common oc- 
currence, some of such severity as to ex- 
cite considerable alarm and occasion serious 
injury. One of the most appalling that has 
occurred for many years was experienced 
in the month of February last, which, in 
conjunction with the unexpected appear- 
ance of a comet and the dreadful calamity, 
in which these awful dispensations of Di- 
vine Providence have lately involved seve- 
ral of the windward islands, has created an 
alarm which it is hoped will operate bene- 
ficially upon society at large. 



* " Oft through the ravaged plain 
The sudden whirlwind sweeps the furious sale, 
C'erthrows majestic trees, and with strong blasts, 
Vexes the lofty mountains." 



CHAPTER VI. 



POPULATION. 



Census of the different Parishes, Stock, Land in Cul- 
tivation, Agriculture, Horticulture — Improvements, 
Implements, Machinery — Present defective State of 
Husbandry — Thoughts on Immigration. 

The number of aboriginal inhabitants 
on the first possession of the island by the 
Spaniards has been variously estimated. 
According to some writers they amounted 
to several hundred thousand ; according to 
others from sixty thousand to one hundred 
thousand. But to the everlasting infamy 
of the Spanish name, it is recorded that 
the whole of this immense mass of human 
beings vvas entirely exterminated within 
fifty years of their subjection to their law- 
less invaders. As previously stated, the 
first Spanish colony was established by 
Don Juan d'Esquimel, under the authority 
of Diego Columbus, and consisted of seven- 
ty persons. At successive periods this 
number was increased, although subject to 
frequent variations, so that on the conquest 
of the island by Penn and Venables, the 
Spanish and Portuguese amounted to 1500, 
with an equal number of negroes and 
mulatto slaves. Under the British the 
population rapidly increased, exhibiting in 
the short space of seven years a total of 
2600 men, 645 women, 408 children, and 
552 negroes, with 2917 acres of land un- 
der cultivation. 

Owing to the unsettled state of affairs in 
the mother country during the period of 
the Commonwealth and the early years of 
the Restoration, the tide of immigration 
was very considerable. The total number 
of slaves imported to Jamaica since the 
conquest of the island to the abolition of 
the slave trade in 1805 was 850,000, and 
this, added to 40,000 brought by the 
Spaniards, makes an aggregate of 890,000, 
exclusive of all births since that period. 
Immediately after the abolition of the slave 
trade, the slave population varied from 
300,939 to 322,421.* To the great dis- 

* According to the return of the Compensation 
Commissioners in July, 1835, the number of slaves 
for which compensation was given was 311,692. Of 
these about 30,000 were children under six years of 
age, and-of the remainder a little more than one-firth 
were non-progdials. The free coloured and black 
people were estimated at 40,000. Estimating these 
at 44Z. 15s. 2^1 on an average gave 6,161,927/. to Ja- 
maica, as its share of the 2O,000,O00Z. compensation, 
being one-thi'd of the total amount. 



38 



JAMAICA : 



credit of the public authorities, no accurate 
census of the island has been taken for 
many years, and thus no correct statement 
can be made respecting it at the present 
time. It is, however, generally supposed 
that the aggregate population, including 
30,000 whites, is now half a million, which 
is about seventy persons to a square mile. 
This proportion is small compared with 
that in other parts of the world, and even 
with Barbadoes, where there are 600 to a 
square mile; so great, however, is the an- 
nual increase of population, as to encou- 
rage the hope that in a few years it will be 
more than double. Even at the present 
time it is fully equal to the demand made 
upon it for agricultural purposes as well as 
to the means of its equitable requital. 

The slock required for agriculture and 
domestic purposes are oxen, horses, mules, 
sheep, goals, hogs, poultry, and several 
European domestic animals. Oxen and 
mules are almost exclusively used in agri- 
culture, and are generally equal in size 
and strength to those of Europe. Horses, 
except by small settlers and draymen or 
carriers, are principally used for the sad- 
dle or drawing gigs and other light con- 
veyances. Mules* are of great value to 



* Although this animal, like the species in other 
parts of the world, is often vicious and untractable, it 
generally finds its match in the ingenuity and adroit- 
ness of its negro rider. The following occurrence, 
with some slight alterations, is related by the captain 
of a merchant-vessel : — " The negro boys are the 
most cunning urchins I have ever had to do with. 
While my vessel was lying at St. Anne's Bay, Jamai- 
ca, T had to go to Port Maria to look for some cargo ; 
and on my way thither, near Oracabessa, I came to 
one of the numerous small rivers that empty them- 
selves into the little bays along the coast. When at 
some distance, I observed a negro boy flogging his 
mule most severely, but before I got up, he had dis- 
mounted and appeared in earnest talk with his beast, 
which, with fore-legs stretched out firm, and ears laid 
down, seemed proof against all arguments to induce 
him to enter the water. Quashie was all animation, 
and his eyes flashed like fire-flies. ' Who-o ! you no 
go ober ; bery well — me bet you fippenny me make 
you go. No? Why for you no bet? Why for you 
no go ober V Here the mule shook his ears to drive 
away the flies, which almost devour the poor animals 
in that climate. ' Oh ! you do bet — bery well ; den 
me try.' " The young rogue (he was not more than 
ten years old) disappeared in the bush, and returned 
in a few seconds with some strips of fanweed, a few 
small pebbles, and a branch of the cactus plant. To 
put three or four pebbles in each of the mule's ears, 
and tie them up with the fanweed, was but the work 
of a minute. He then jumped on the animal's back, 
turned round, put the plant to the animal's tail, and 
off they went, as a negro himself would say — 'Like 
mad, Massa!' Into the water they plunged — the lit- 
tle fellow grinning and showing his teeth in perfect 
ecstacy. Out they got on the other side ; head and 
ears down — tail and heels up — and the boy's arms 



the planter, being much more capable of 
continuous labour than the other beasts of 
burthen, less choice in their food, and less 
subject to the casualties of disease. They 
are imported from England, America, and 
the Spanish Main, as are also horses, horn- 
ed cattle, and sheep. Considerable num- 
bers, however, of all descriptions are rear- 
ed in the colony. The price of a steer for 
agricultural purposes is about 13/. ($63), 
and of one fattened for the market from 
9/. to 10/. ($44 to $48) and upwards. 
Beef is from 6d. to Id. per lb. (12 to 14 
cents) ; veal at Is. (25 cents). Horses, 
according to their size and breed, may be 
had at prices varying from 12/. to 100/. 
($55 to $450), and mules from 15/. to 50/. 
($65 to $220) and upwards. 

Sheep have a degenerated appearance 
compared with those of England, but their 
flesh is savoury. When well managed 
they are very prolific, and, consequently, 
a considerable source of profit to the gra- 
zier — 30s. is the usual price of a lull- 
grown wether, and the mutton is retailed 
at Is. 3d. per lb. Goats and hogs are also 
abundant : the former are kept chiefly for 
their milk. Pork is of a very superior fla- 
vour, and is sold at l\d. per lb. Rabbits 
thrive in hutches, but are seldom raised in 
sufficient numbers for the market. The 
price of a full-grown turkey is from 12s. 
to 16s. ($3 to $4); a goose from 10s. to 
12s. ($3 to $4); a Muscovy duck, 5s. 
($1 25); a common fowl, 2s. 6d. (62$ 
cents) ; a Guinea fowl, 4s. ($1) ; pigeons, 
2s. (50 cents) per pair; eggs, Is. 6c/ (31 
cents) per dozen.* Of dogs, the real Spa- 
nish blood-hound, and those of the various 
European and Spanish breeds, ace a usual 



moving about as if he was flying ; and I lost sight of 
him as he went over a rocky steep at full gallop, 
where one false step would have precipitated thein 
into the sea beneath, from whence there would have 
been but small chance of escape. A butcher's boy is 
nothing to a negro boy in these exploits. 

" About two hours afterwards 1 reached Fort Ma- 
ria. There I saw, in an open space near one of the 
stores, standing, or rather leaning against the wall, 
Quashie, eating cakes; and there also stood the mule, 
eating Guinea grass, and looking much more cheerful 
than when I first saw him at the river side. ' Well, 
Quashie,'] said, 'you have got here, 1 see; but which 
of you won V ' Quashie win, Massa — Quashie never 
lose.' ' But will he pay?' 1 inquired. ' Quashie pay 
himself, Massa. You see, Massa Buccra, massa gib 
Quashie tenpenny bit lor grass for mule : Quashie 
bet fippenny him make him go ober de river. Quashie 
win. Quashie heb fippenny for cake — mule heb fip- 
penny lor grass.' " 

*The prices were formerly much higher. 



ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 



39 



appendage to almost every domestic esta- 
blishment, both of the higher and lower 
classes. Numerous as these animals are, 
however, throughout the island, cases of 
hydrophobia seldom or ever occur. Cats 
are also common, but are not in such uni- 
versal favour as the dog. 

By the last authenticated returns, the 
number of stock, consisting of horses and 
cattle, was 166,286, with 2,235,733 acres 
of land in cultivation. 

The whole island, comprising 6400 sq. 
miles, presents an entire surface of 4,080,- 
000 acres; thus leaving nearly 2,000,000 
of acres uncultivated. A considerable por- 
tion of the latter is situated in the inacces- 
sible regions of the mountains. There are 
however, thousands of acres in every re- 
spect available for cultivation, and which 
are being rapidly cleared for this purpose 
by the peasantry. 

The principal properties on the island of 
an agricultural kind are sugar and coffee 
plantations, together with pens or farms 
for raising stock. A sugar-estate is usu- 
ally situated in a rich plain or valley, at a 
convenient distance from the sea ; the cof- 
fee-plantation in the mountains of the inte- 
rior; and the pen in a location on the high- 
lands or on the plains, most convenient for 
pasturage. 

A first-class sugar-estate usually con- 
sists of a large mansion occupied by the 
proprietor or attorney, and one or two 
somewhat inferior residences for the over- 



seer and subordinate agents. Contiguous 
to these are the works — consisting of the 
windmill, the boiling-house, the curing- 
house, and the distillery. Various out- 
offices, mechanics' shops, the hospital, and 
the negro-village at a little distance, com- 
plete the establishment. 

Sugar estates vary in their extent and 
value according to circumstances, as with 
farms in England. 

An estate (says Stewart, in 1823) pro- 
ducing 200 hogsheads of sugar, averaging 
16 cwt., may be thus valued: — 

500 acres of land, at 201. per acre on an 

average £10,000 

(Of which 150 acres, if the land be good, 
is sufficient for canes, the rest being 
in grass and provisions.) 
200 slaves, averaging 100/. each - - 20,000 
140 horned stock and 50 mules - - 5,000 
Buildings and utensils - - - - 8,000 



Or £25,000 sterling, 



£43,000 



Such an estate would now be sold pro- 
bably for the same amount, independently 
of the labourers. In some cases as many 
as 500 hands were considered necessary 
to cultivate 500 acres of land. It might be 
accomplished by half the number. 

The cane-fields and pastures on all well- 
managed properties are enclosed by stone 
walls, or by fences composed separately of 
logwood, lime, lemon, or the maranga-tree, 
or by these shrubs and trees intermixed. 
The extent of a cane-field or pasture is 
from ten to twenty acres. The fences are 




[Cutting Sugar-Cane.] 



40 



JAMAICA 



usually trimmed to the height of about four 
feet, and are as impervious as the haw- 
thorn in England, to which, indeed, the 
logwood bears a great resemblance. In 
the orange and lime fences a tree is some- 
times allowed at regular intervals to attain 
its natural growth, which thus answers the 
double purpose of use and ornament. In 
some localities the penguin, a kind of wild 
pine-apple, and various species of the cac- 
tus, together with bamboo and other rails, 
are used for these intersections. 

The incipient agricultural operations of 
an estate consist in clearing the land, open- 
ing it up in trenches, and holing it for the 
reception of the young plants — all which 
is usually performed by manual labour. 

The time for planting and reaping varies 
with the seasons and with the climate in 
different localities. The spring plants, 
however, are usually put in in February, 
and arrive at perfection in the following 
December or January. After being cut 
down, the canes, which are tied in bun- 
dles, are conveyed to the mill in carts 
drawn by oxen, or, from fields inaccessible 
to such conveyances, on the backs of don- 
keys and mules. The juice of the cane is 
expressed by two perpendicular rollers or 
iron cylinders, propelled by steam or cat- 
tle, and flows into the boiling-house, where 
it is manufactured into sugar. The scum 
and dross occurring in this process (which, 
contrary to the received opinion in this 
country, is a remarkably clean one,) toge- 
ther with the molasses, are passed into the 
distilling-house, and converted into rum : 
300 gallons of which are produced from 
every acre of land yielding 3 hhds. of su- 
gar. These processes being ended, atten- 
tion is immediately turned to the necessary 
preparations for the ensuing crop, and the 
general operations of the estate. 

Almost the only implements of husban- 
dry in common use are the hoe, the bill, 
the cutlass, and the axe. The hoe is chiefly 
used for digging cane-holes, trenching, 
ditching, and weeding ;* the bill and the 
cutlass for cutting canes, denuding pastures 
of underwood and superfluous herbage, 
and also, in conjunction with the axe, in 
clearing forest lands for cultivation. Ma- 
nure is conveyed to the field on the heads 



* The hoe was first introduced in the cultivation of 
the West Indian islands to clear the land from roots, 
as the plough and the spade could not then be used. 




[Hoe and Bill for Sugar Cultivation.] 

of labourers in baskets or trays filled by 
the hoe : exhibiting, in these respects, no 
improvement on the rude usages of our 
Saxon forefathers. As yet chemistry has 
been but imperfectly applied to the purpose 
of ascertaining the peculiar properties of 
soils. Nor is the science of agriculture 
either generally understood or applied to 
any practical use. Little is done in the 
way of drainage, alternate crops, artificial 
grasses, or manuring. 

Soils are usually wrought until exhaust- 
ed ; after which they lie fallow for several 
years ; thus rendering it necessary succes- 
sively to redeem tracts from the forest to 
supply the deficiency created, and which 
can only be effected at a great expense of 
time and labour. 

The soil best adapted for the growth of 
coffee is a deep brown loam. Intervals of 
about six feet are left between the plants, 
which are frequently and carefully clean- 
ed. The berries ripen and are gathered 
between the months of October and Ja- 
nuary. 

After having undergone the process of 
pulping, it is dried on terraces called bar- . 
becues, and is then fit for local use or 
exportation. 

The pimento or alspice plantations, 
which are usually connected with those of 
coffee, sometimes yield two crops a year. 
The principal season for gathering it is 
from August to October. " It is broken 
in" in its green or unripe state, and dried 
like the coffee. 

Particulars respecting the mode of cul- 



ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 



41 



tivating and preparing ginger, arrow-root, 
and other articles of export, cannot be de- 
tailed. 

Pens resemble the breeding and grazing 
farms of Great Britain. 

In all these processes the same disregard 
to improvement is -manifest. It is calcu- 
lated that in planting canes, a pair of 
horses and a plough will do the work of 
thirty-five men. " The farmer may form 
some idea of the waste of labour in the 
West Indies," says an intelligent Ameri- 
can traveller,* " by supposing his lands to 
be all cultivated with Indian corn, and no 
agricultural implements allowed him ex- 
cept a mule, a pack-saddle, a wooden tray, 
and a stub hoe." 

By a thorough reformation of the pre- 
sent vicious and defective system of do- 
mestic economy — by an improved system 
of manuring and cultivation — returns of 
produce might be successively drawn from 
a more compact surface of soil ip the im- 
mediate vicinity of the plantation works. 

A steam-engine saves the labour of four 
able hands per diem during five months of 
the year, besides ensuring a better quality 
of sugar, and the substitution of animal 
labour and machinery, as far as practica- 
ble, would reduce the number of effective 
hands on an estate to nearly half the num- 
ber required under the present system. Tt 
is gratifying, however, to add, that within 
the last few years some important im- 
provements have been introduced, which 
are chiefly to be attributed to the Agricul- 
tural Societies, originated by C. N. Palmer, 
Esq., in the year 1834, first patronized by 
his excellency, the Marquis of Sligo, and 
now become general. 

The plough, the steam-engine, the coffee- 
pulper, a machine for clearing and weed- 
ing canes, with other instruments of a simi- 
lar kind, are now being gradually intro- 
duced. The breed of plantation-stock is 
considerably improved; — companies have 
been formed for supplying the towns of 
Spanish Town and Kingston with water, — 
for working a copper-mine, and for the 
production of silk ; and a taste has been 
imparted for progressive scientific improve- 
ment, which, it is hoped, will establish the 
prosperity of the colony on a broad and 
substantial foundation. 

Much, however, as has been already ac- 



Dr. Hovey. 



complished, very much more still remains 
to be done. The resources of the country 
are not at present more than half deve- 
loped. Its variety of soil and climate is 
adapted to the cultivation of almost every 
article that is grown within the tropics and 
the milder regions of the temperate zone ; 
whilst its resources of raw material for 
manufactures of almost all kinds, and 
which are almost innumerable, may be said 
to be entirely unemployed, except for local 
purposes by the peasantry. The old me- 
thods of cultivation are the rule — the im- 
provements the exception. The hoe, the 
cutlass, and the tray,* and others of equal 
antiquity, still usurp the place of the plough 
and spade, the muck-fork, the wheel-bar- 
row, and the tumbril : whilst the practical 
knowledge of the last century is still re- 
garded by many as superior to the expe- 
rience and science of the present day. 

The price of agricultural labour, com- 
pared with that of former years, is consi- 
derably diminished. The amount paid for 
hoeing an acre of land for canes by a job- 
bing gang in 1823, was from 51. to ll.i 
the price now paid is 21. 10s. The rate of 
wages for jobbers per day was from 2s. to 
3s : it is now from Is. to Is. 6d. Stone 
walls for enclosures, which formerly cost 
51. per chain, are now built for 1/. 2s. per 
chain. And this scale of reduction is ap- 
plicable to manual labour of almost every 
kind. Under all these circumstances, it is 
presumed that the necessity for an increase 
of our rural population by immigration is 
questionable, as the diminution of manual 
labour which these proposed changes would 
effect would more than compensate for any 
supposed deficiency of effective hands. All 
disinterested and philanthropic men, both in 
Jamaica and elsewhere, concur in the opi- 
nion that the present immigration scheme 
is not only unnecessary, but injurious, im- 
politic, inefficient, and useless ; injurious, 
from its likelihood to interrupt the progress 
of civilization ; impolitic, as furnishing a 
pretext for the continuance or renewal of 
the slave trade; and altogether inefficient 
in securing the reduction of wasres or the 



* "A gentleman purchased a lot of wheelbarrows, 
with the intention of having the negroes use them 
instead of trays, in carrying out manure; but they 
not taking a fancy to the rolling part, loaded them, 
and mounted the whole on their heads. It is, how- 
ever, scarcely necessary to remark how rapidly this 
prejudice will vanish with the progress of intelligence 
and enterprise." 



42 



JAMAICA: 



supplies desired : thus occasioning a useless 
expenditure of the public money, and a 
defection among the native peasantry, 
which may involve consequences of a most 
serious character. With the various agri- 
cultural and other improvements suggested, 
greater facilities of conveyance, a less 
Tavisti expenditure of the public money, 
diminished taxation, an improved system 
of domestic economy, connected with a 
leasing out of estates to the present mana- 
ger as a remedy for absenteeism, the pros- 
perity of Jamaica may be more substan- 
tially and permanently secured than by 
any other schemes that may be devised. 

The following is a calculation lately 
made by his excellency, the Earl of Elgin, 
while at Shortwood, the estate of Joseph 
Gordon, Esq. : 



£ s. d. 

Cane-hole moulding according to old system 4 

Planting 

First cleaning 



Second do. 
Third do. 
Fourth do. 



12 

12 

12 

8 

8 



6 12 



NEW SYSTEM.* 



Ploughing one acre — wages of plough- 
men and boys . . . .56 

Planting 12 0' 

First harrowing one acre, half day — 
wages for one man driving two 
steers in tandem, or one horse 2 

First moulding do., half day, with a 
double mould plough, 2s. for the 
ploughman, and 9d. lor the boy 2 9 

Second moulding and third do., 2s. 
each . . . . . .40 

Seven days' feeding, horses or cattle, 

at 2s. Gd. per day . . . . 17 6-2 3 9 



Gain 



.483 



Allowing that, according to the old system, 
the rattcons took three cleanings, includ- 
ing moulding and thrashing, at 12s. per 
acre , . . . . . . . 1 16 

ON THE NEW SYSTEM. 

Three do. at 3s„ exclusive of stock and imple- 
ments 9 

Effecting a saving of . .17 

The observations here made with re- 
spect to the defective state of common hus- 
bandry, will apply in an equal, or even in 

* On the Cost of Slave and Free Labour. — A report 
has been made 'From the Select Committee of the 
House of Commons on the Commercial Stale of the 
West Indian Colonies, July, 1842.' Without making 
any remark respecting the report generally, we now 
confine ourselves entirely to that part which relates 
to the cost of production of sugar, as given by the 
Committee — 



a greater degree, to horticulture. Horti- 
culture, indeed, has been wholly disregard- 
ed, except by a few individuals, who have 
formed themselves into a society in Kings-' 
ton ; and missionaries, who have endea- 
voured to give an impulse to these pursuits 
among the peasantry of the new townships. 
Hence, with the exception of the neigh- 
bourhood of the towns on the soiith side of 
the island, very few European vegetables 
are produced, although in all the highlands 
of the country they would flourish in the 
greatest abundance, and attain the highest 
perfection. 

Adorned, as is this lovely island, with 
every thing calculated to woo the embel- 
lishments of art, there is perhaps no spot 
on the surface of the globe, inhabited by 
civilized men, where the beauties of nature 
have been lavished so entirely in vain. 
Millions of flowers and shrubs, displaying 
hues and tints which mock all the efforts 
of the pencil, still remain detached and 
scattered, forgotten and unknown. No ex- 
tensive public gardens or pleasure-grounds 
are here found inviting healthful recreation, 
and displaying their sylvan beauties to the 
eye; no walks, shaded and adorned by 
aromatic trees and shrubs, to tempt the se- 



"The average cost of production of a hundred 
weight in the British West Indies, is (with- 
out any charge of interest or capital) . .15 8 

The expense of bringing it to market in Great 
Britain is 8 6 



Making altogether 24 2 

The average price of 1831 is . . . . 23 8 



Leaving a deficiency of 6 

" By this statement it appears that slave labour was 
cheaper by 6d. per hundred weight than free labour. 
If in this early stage of the working of emancipation 
the cost of production has been such a trifle more 
than during the days of slavery, what may not be ex- 
pected, by the introduction of a better system of ma- 
nagement, by the aid of machinery and other im- 
provements by which it may be considerably reduced ? 

"But, if we understand the statement aright, free 
labour is already cheaper than slave labour. In the 
cost of production, no charge of interest or capital is 
made. Now, it is a well-known fact, that a much 
larger amount of capital was required in the days of 
slavery than under the present system. There wa,s 
the purchase-money for the slaves. Say that an 
estate had 200 slaves located upon it, the capital 
withdrawn amounts to 5000Z., reckoning only at 
25Z. per head, being a saving of 250Z. per annum, at 5 
per cent, interest; say that 180 hogsheads of sugar 
are produced of a ton weight each, this 250Z. saved 
will reduce the cost rather more than Is. 4d per hun- 
dred weight; instead, therefore, of there being an ad- 
vantage of 6d. per cent, under slavery, there is ac- 
tually a saving of lOd. per cent by free labour in the 
British West India colonies." — Jamaica Baptist He- 
rald. 



ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 



43 



dentary citizen and his captive family be- 
yond the precincts of their domicile: yet 
in such a climate few things seem more 
necessary or desirable ; while from the 
profusion of vegetable life which every 
where abounds, it would be comparatively 
easy of accomplishment. Such an append- 
age to Kingston and Spanish Town, espe- 
cially, is a desideratum — and its cost, com- 
pared with the immense sums lavished on 
less becoming recreations, would be incon- 
siderable. 

A large botanic garden was established 
several years ago in the village of Bath. 
It was successively enriched with produc- 
tions from the islands of the Pacific and 
Indian Oceans — from Mauritius and the 
continent of India — presented by Lord 
Rodney, Captain Bligh, and others, and 
which promised very considerable advan- 
tages to the colony ; but, in accordance 
with that want of taste and public spirit, 
or as the effect of that apathy or avarice, 
which then characterized the leading men 
of the colony, it was finally abandoned, the 
legislature discontinuing the means for its 
progressive cultivation. 

As previously stated, no class of emi- 
grants is so well suited to Jamaica as far- 
mers with small capital. Such might 
most advantageously settle in the moun- 
tain districts. This would necessarily lead 
to improvements in practical agriculture, 
and thus not only facilitate the develope- 
ment of the resources of the country, but 
add much to its social happiness and pros- 
perity. 



CHAPTER VII. 

GOVERNMENT. 

Council, House of Assembly, Courts of Law, Laws, 
Public Offices — Ecclesiastical Establishments — 
Naval and Military ditto— Taxes, Revenue. 

The Government of Jamaica is formed 
after the model of that of the Parent State, 
with such variations as the nature of the 
country is thought to require. It con- 
sists of a Governor, Council, and Assem- 
bly, or House of Representatives. The 
Governor is appointed by the Crown, — has 
the title of Excellency, — is Commander-in- 
Chief of the Forces, — Vice-admiral, &c; — 



is invested with the chief civil authority, 
and, under particular circumstances, can 
appoint pro. tern, a successor. The Coun- 
cil, Which is similar to the House of Lords 
or the Privy Council in England, is also 
appointed by the Sovereign at the recom- 
mendation of the Governor, through the 
Secretary of State for the Colonies. The 
Assembly, which resembles the House of 
Commons, is chosen by a small portion of 
the people, and enjoys all the privileges of 
the House of Commons in England. 

The Governor, the Chief Justice, the 
Attorney-General, the Bishop, the Com- 
mander of the Forces, and the Chancellor, 
are all members of the Council ex officio, 
and the others are selected from the most 
respectable and opulent of the inhabitants. 
They are twelve in number, and are ad- 
dressed by the title of Honourable. The 
Assembly consists of 47 members, being 
two representatives to each parish, and an 
additional one to the towns of Spanish 
Town, Kingston, and Port Royal. Its 
duration is seven years. The qualifica- 
tion of a representative is the possession of 
a freehold of 300Z. per annum in any part 
of the island, or a real and personal estate 
of 3000/. An elector must possess a free- 
hold estate in the parish in which he votes 
of the value of 61. sterling, or at a rent- 
charge of 30/. sterling, recorded in the 
island secretary's office for twelve calen- 
dar months, and the right of voting there- 
on entered in the parish books, in the office 
of the clerk of the vestry, or clerk of the 
common council, six calendar months. He 
must be twenty-one years of age; and 
actually pay taxes to the amount of SI. 
sterling per annum. His specific place of 
abode must be also registered. He must 
make oath as to his actual possession of 
the property ; — present a rent-receipt from 
his landlord, and pay his taxes up to the 
term of his claiming to vote, and in con- 
tinuity afterwards, as a condition of his 
continued privilege. 

The Supreme Court, in the extent of its 
jurisdiction resembles those of the Courts 
of King's Bench, Common Pleas, and Ex- 
chequer, in the Mother Country. Its sit- 
tings are held in St. Jago de fa Vega, or 
Spanish Town, the capital, three times a 
year, commencing in the months of Feb- 
ruary, June and October, and continued 
through three successive weeks. The Chief 
Justice is nominated bv the Government of 



44 



JAMAICA: 



England. He was formerly assisted by 
eight or ten colleagues, appointed by the 
King in council, at the recommendation of 
the Governor, each of whom received a 
salary of 300/. sterling per annum, and 
who sat on the bench in rotation. By a 
recent law this arrangement is superseded, 
and his Honour the Chief Justice, Sir 
Joshua Rowe, is now associated with two 
duly qualified assistants, the Honourables 
W. C. M'Dougal and W. Stevenson. They 
hold their offices at the pleasure of the 
Queen in council, and have each a patent 
of office under the great seal of the island, 
as is the case with the Judges and princi- 
pal officers of all the other courts, who are 
removable only by the sanction of the 
Queen in council. Their salaries are paid 
by the island, and are as follow : — The 
Chief Justice, 4000/. per annum, and each 
of his associates about 2000/. The whole 
annual cost for the Judicial Establishment 
is 23,476/. The sum of 7000/. was given 
as retirement douceurs to the former legal 
authorities. The other officers attached 
to the court are Dowell O'Reilly, Esq., 
the Attorney-General, Clerk of the Crown, 
Clerk of the Court, Solicitor for the Crown, 
Island Secretar} r , Provost Marshal or High 
Sheriff of the Island, with about twelve or 
fourteen barristers. 

The Assize Courts have jurisdiction only 
in each county respectively, and have the 
same power and authority that the Justices 
of Assize and Nisi Prius, Justices of Oyer 
and Terminer, and Justices of Gaol De- 
livery, have in England. 

The Courts of Quarter Sessions are con- 
ducted similarly to those of this country, 
and are presided over by chairmen, lately 
appointed by the Home Government, as- 
sisted by local and stipendiary magistrates. 
Formerly local magistrates presided over 
these courts, who often decided cases in 
which they were personally concerned. 

The Courts of Common Pleas are held 
once in three months or oftener, and have 
jurisdiction over all causes wherein any 
freehold is not concerned, to the value of 
20/. with costs, and no more, but by the 
aid of a justicias from the Chancellor. 
The appeal against the decision of these 
courts lies to the Supreme Court of Judi- 
cature. They were formerly presided over 
by local magistrates, subsequently by sti- 
pendiary and local magistrates associated, 
but now by a chairman of Quarter Ses- 



sions, assisted by stipendiary and local 
magistrates.* The Quarter Session takes 
cognizance of all manner of debts, tres- 
passes, &c, not exceeding the value of 
40s. 

Until recently the Court of Chancery 
was presided over by the Governor, who 
possessed the same powers as those with 
which the Lord High Chancellor of Eng- 
land is invested. The functions of Chan- 
cellor are dissociated from those of Go- 
vernor, and a duly qualified individual 
sustains the office. 

Court of Error. — This is a court in 
which appeals are heard by the Governor 
in council from the Supreme and Assize 
Courts in the form of writs of error, and 
which are allowed and regulated by Her 
Majesty's instructions to the Governor. 
The Court of Vice-Admiralty decides all 
maritime causes, and adjudges prizes to 
claimants. It is a miniature representa- 
tion of the Vice-Admiralty Court in Eng- 
land. 

The Court of Ordinary is for determin- 
ing all ecclesiastical matters. It is pre- 
sided over by the Governor, as the repre- 
sentative of the Sovereign and the nominal 
head of the Church, who in that capacity 
inducts into the vacant rectories. The 
Bishop of London was formerly the dioce- 
san of Jamaica and of all the West Indian 
colonies ; but a bishop was appointed spe- 
cially for the island, including the Bahamas 
and Honduras, in 1825, with a salary of 
4000/. per annum, and an archdeacon with 
a salary of 2000/. from the home govern- 
ment. The crown livings were in the gift 
of the Governor, in virtue of his station as 
such, but are now in that of the bishop. 
The clergy are paid partly by a stipend 
and partly by fees. 

Of late years the average annual expen- 
diture of Jamaica for her ecclesiastical 
establishment has been upwards of30,000/., 
and which is paid out of the public taxes. 
The rectors' stipends were estimated by 
Mr. Bridges, in the year 1835, at 8820/. ; 
the curates' salaries at 10,550/.; the ag- 
gregate vestry allowances, 3430/. ; and the 
average sum drawn from the inhabitants 



* The stipendiary magistrates are appointed and 
paid by the Home Government, and'are removable 
only through the Secretary of State for the Colonies. 
Richard Hill, Esq., a gentleman of colour, is the 
Secretary of the Special Justices' Department, and is 
an honour to the Government of the country. 



ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 



45 



for surplice fees, at 5372/., independently 
of the annual expenditure in maintaining 
thirty-nine churches and chapels. By re- 
cent acts of the legislature the fees have 
been abolished and an annual sum granted 
instead, which has greatly increased the 
salaries of the rectors, so that, including 
grants of money for chapel and school- 
house building, the expenditure for ecclesi- 
astical purposes has been increased from 
30,000/. to nearly 80,000/. per annum, 
thus imposing a most unjust and oppressive 
burden upon the dissenters, who constitute 
more than half the population of the island. 
These statements are supported by the 
following facts : — The Clergy Act, passed 
December 1840, expressly enacts that no 
charge be made by clergymen of the 
Church of England for marriages, christen- 
ings, and burials, but that they receive in 
lieu thereof, out of the public treasury, the 
following sums per annum, viz : — 



The Rector of Kingston 


.£600 


" " of St. Catherine - 


400 


" " of St. James 


400 


" ■' of St. Andrew - 


300 


With 17 others at 2001. each 


3400 



Total 



£5100 



Thus the salaries of rectors are supposed 
to vary from 1500/. to 2000/. per annum 
each. In the year 1842 there was ex- 
pended in one parish (Trelawney) for 
church purposes, including schoolmasters 
and subordinate church officers, 7,000/. 
sterling, or 35,000 dollars: about 4s. 2c/., 
or one dollar per annum for every man, 
woman, and child within its boundaries. 
The sum of six hundred pounds was also 
voted to paupers belonging to the same 
establishment. 

The total paid for the church by the island 
in the year 1841 amounted to 65,919/. 18s. 
fid., in addition to the 11,000/. by the Bri- 
ish Government and societies for the pro- 
pagation of the Gospel in foreign parts, 
>r, as estimated by the Commissioners of 
^ublic Accounts, 77,519/. 

" There are no tithes in Jamaica," says 
Mr. Candler,* writing in 1840 ; " a land- 
■;ax was imposed in lieu of tithes, and the 
Church of England clergy are paid their 
stipends out of the island chest. The 
fiverage receipts of the rectors are, I under- 



* Mr. John Candler, of the Society of Friends, per- 
formed a tour of Jamaica and Hayti in the year 1840, 
and published some valuable information on the state 
and prospects of these islands. 



stand, about 1000/. sterling per annum, 
and of the curates about 400/. These 
stipends, with the salary of the bishop and 
archdeacon, and other ecclesiastical de- 
mands for new churches and chapels, 
school-rooms, and national schools, swal- 
low up about 50,000/. per annum, or one- 
eighth of the whole revenue of Jamaica ; 
and from the disposition recently mani- 
fested by the House of Assembly to gratify 
the bishop and church, this sum seems 
likely, if not checked by the people, to go 
on increasing." 

There is no Bankruptcy Law in Jamaica, 
but an Insolvent Debtors' Act instead, 
which is considered very arbitrary in its 
requirements. 

As a security against fraud, the law, 
until a very recent period, when it was 
abrogated, required that every person in- 
tending to leave the island should publish 
his name for three weeks in the news- 
papers, and obtain a certificate from the 
Governor, without which any captain of a 
vessel with whom he might sail would be 
liable to a very heavy penalty. 

Though the constitution of the island is 
similar to that of England, and the legis- 
lature enacts its own laws, these laws are 
subject to the confirmation or disallowance 
of her Majesty in council ; and while some 
go into immediate operation on the assent 
of the Governor on behalf of the Queen, 
others of a more particular and important 
kind are passed with a suspending clause, 
and are not carried into effect until her 
Majesty's pleasure is known. At the same 
time the sovereign has the prerogative of 
disallowing any colonial Act which she has 
not previously confirmed at any period, 
however remote. As with all the British 
colonies, the island is dependent on the 
Crown and Parliament of Great Britain, 
who have full power to control it in alt 
cases whatsoever. Although the common 
law of England is here in force, it is not 
so generally with the statute laws. Nor 
can the latter become laws of Jamaica, un- 
less recognised by the local legislature. 
It is well known that the consolidated 
Slave Act existed as a distinct code, and 
had reference to slavery and its relations 
alone. Colonial enactments now relate to 
those regulations of local policy which are 
thought necessary to the altered state of 
things, and to which it is supposed that the 
statute laws of England are inapplicable. 



46 



JAMAICA 



It must be obvious that the entire system 
of British law is as applicable to the go- 
vernment of the colonies as to that of the 
parent state ; and its adoption in Jamaica 
would be an important boon to the country. 
It is well known that those laws which 
have been enacted since Emancipation 
have not secured to the peasantry those 
privileges and immunities which they were 
intended to confer: many of them, there- 
fore, have been disallowed. Amongst these 
there are some that are not oniy oppres- 
sive and unjust, but utterly at variance 
with every dictate of sound policy, such as 
the Militia Law, the Hawkers' and Ped- 
lars' Act, the Election Law, and the Stamp 
Act. 

A body of militia is unnecessary, and 
serves no other purpose than that of impo- 
verishing and demoralizing the peasantry. 
The tendency of the Hawkers' and Ped- 
lars' Act is to create a monopoly of trade ; 
to form an almost insurmountable barrier 
to honourable competition ; and to impose 
the most oppressive restrictions upon the 
industry of the poorer classes. A hawker 
and pedlar in England for the sum of 4/. 
may purchase a license, which enables him 
to travel throughout England and Wales. 
In Jamaica he would have to purchase as 
many licenses as there are parishes, and 
which, including stamp-duties and clerks' 
fees, would probably amount to upwards of 
100/. This Act is also as useless in the 
accomplishment of its avowed object as it 
is unjust and impolitic in its character, in- 
asmuch as it fails to benefit the monopo- 
list, is unproductive to the revenue, and in- 
effectual in preventing the sale of stolen 
goods. 

The election law is equally liable to ob- 
jection : by that mysterious combination of 
ever-changing difficulties which attends its 
operation, nearly 300,000 out of the 
400,000 inhabitants which the island con- 
tains, may be said to be entirely unrepre- 
sented, and, consequently, be excluded 
from all the common paths of honourable 
ambition. 

The Stamp Act was evidently designed 
to prevent the possession of freeholds by 
the peasantry, and thus to diminish the 
amount of that influence which they would 
ultimately exert upon the legislature and 
other interests of the country. So unjust 
and oppressive are its enactments that 
every effort ought to be made by the 



friends of civil liberty to effect its disal- 
lowance.^ 

Great and salutary as is the change 
which has been effected in the judicial sys- 
tem, it cannot be dissembled that great de- 
fects still exist ; indeed, so palpable have 
these evils at length become, that conside- 
rable dissatisfaction has been for some 
time manifested on the subject, not only by 
the public but by the legal profession. 
They have been denounced in the public 
journals, and loud demands have been 
made for their reform. The remedies 
suggested are rules for the government of 
the inferior courts, and the establishment 
of island law reports, the latter to be pub- 
lished annually, for the use of the profes- 
sion, and the benefit of the public. There- 
ports to extend to all causes in Chancery, 
trials at Nisi Prius, and arguments in Banco, 
to be revised by the judge who heard or 
tried the cause in Chancery, or at Nisi 
Prius, and to be then published at the ex- 
pense of the island, and received as good 
authority in all its courts. | 

In the inferior courts great advantages 
have been derived from the appointment of 
chairmen of Quarter Sessions, some of 
whom, the Honourables T. J. Bernard, 
Mayo Short, and Henry Roberts, Esq., are 
especially efficient. A thorough reform of 
the magistracy is, however, imperatively 
required. So powerfully does prejudice 
still continue to operate against the poorer 
classes, so little effect has a change of cir- 
cumstances effected in the dispositions of 
the local authorities, and so far is justice 
removed beyond the reach of the pecu- 
niary means of the great mass of the peo- 
ple, that, with a very few exceptions, it 
may be said to be entirely denied them. 

Each parish has a Gustos Rotulorum, 
answering to the office of Lord Lieutenant 
of a county in England. He is designated 
Honourable, and has the custody of the 
parochial records. The affairs of each 
parish are managed by a vestry, over 
which the Custos presides. The vestry 
consists of the rector, churchwarden and 



* By this Act the legal expense of executing and 
recording a title for an acre of land will, in some 
cases, doable or treble its intrinsic value, ft is also 
supposed to possess a retrospective aspect, rendering 
all preceding conveyances invalid unless executed 
by a solicitor at the legal rate of charge., subjecting 
the present freeholders to the expense of new deeds 
of conveyance. 

t Jamaica Morning Journal. 



ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 



47 



ten vestrymen. It has the prerogatives of 
assessing and appropriating local taxes ; 
appointing waywardens for superintending 
the repair of public roads ; and also of 
choosing the different parochial officers. 
Each parish has also its coroner and clerk 
of the peace, the duties and powers of 
which correspond with those of similar 
offices in England. 

The business connected with forts and 
fortifications, of public works, and of pub- 
lic accounts, is managed by commission- 
ers, of which the council and assembly are 
members ex officio. 

Port Royal Harbour is the rendezvous 
of the navy. In time of peace it consists 
of only one or two frigates and several 
smaller vessels, which are cruising on the 
station. Here also are the store-houses, 
the dock-yard, and the necessary conve- 
niences for careening ships. 

The military force, including 200 artil- 
lery-men, is about 3000, comprising four 
European regiments of the line, and one of 
Africans from the west coast of Africa. 
The colonial militia lately numbered from 
16,000 to 18,000 men at arms, comprising 
20 troops of horse and 23 of infantry, with 
two field-pieces and a company of artillery 
to each regiment. The head-quarters for 
the regiments of the line are Spanish Town, 
Kingston, and Maroon Town, in Tre- 
lawny. The principal fortifications are, 
Fort Charles on the east end of Port Royal', 
and the battery of the Twelve Apostles; 
and Fort Augusta, at the entrance of Port 
Royal and Kingston Harbours. 

The annual revenue of Jamiaca, includ- 
ing the local taxes of the different counties, 
and parish vestries, is estimated at 600,- 
000/. It sustains its own government, and 
its ecclesiastical, naval and military esta- 
blishments (the salaries of the bishop and 
archdeacon excepted), besides yielding an 
annual revenue to the Crown of J 0,000/. 

The taxes are numerous, and oppressive 
to the public generally, but especially to 
the small freeholders : the principal of 
them are the land tax, the stamp tax, a tax 
of 20s. on wheel carriages not used in 
agriculture or for the conveyance of goods, 
a house tax of 12 per cent, on the amount 
of rent, a tax on horses, mules, and horned 
stock ; and a road tax, recently enacted, 
which levies one dollar, or 4s. Id., per an- 
num On each male person from sixteen 
years of age to sixty. As they have been 



raised with little regard to justice and the 
pecuniary ability of the public, so have 
they been squandered with the most reck- 
less extravagance. Thus, in addition to 
the 80,000/. absorbed by the national 
church, the cost of the police establishment 
amounts to 56,400/. per annum, and that 
of the immigration scheme, to not less than 
30,000/. per annum. 

From the report of the committee, show- 
ing the ways and means, the income of the 
island for ] 842 was estimated at 427,000/., 
and the expenditure 363,000/., leaving an 
apparent overplus of 60,000/., thus, as was 
said officially by one of the members of the 
legislature, obviating the necessity that was 
supposed to exist for an income tax. 

The following extract from a letter late- 
ly received from a missionary in Jamaica, 
dated May 23, 1843, abundantly confirms 
the statements contained in this chapter: — 

" Our taxes are abominably high. The 
capitation tax of 4s. per head is felt as a 
burden, under which the people complain. 
A poor black man is charged his full 
amount of tax, sometimes more ; is often 
refused the discount, though he pays with- 
in the specified time ; is charged Is. or Is. 
Qd. for filling up the vestry form, and some 
of the magistrates demand Is. Id. for ad- 
ministering the required oath or receiving 
the necessary declaration : and now, by a 
most wily and unjust law, a man whose 
freehold is not worth 10/. per year is ex- 
empted from militia duty, and exempted 
also from a vote; so that every voter is 
liable to serve in the militia, and then the 
smallest privilege is not to be enjoyed by 
our peasantry unless they purchase it at 
about 100 per cent, above its real value." 



CHAPTER VIII. 

COMMERCE. 

SHIPPING; Imports and Exports— Monetary Sys- 
tem ; Coins, Amount of Property, aggregate Vaiud 
of Property. 

From the transition which society has 
lately undergone, it was natural to expect 
that in the cultivation of the staple product 
of the country some temporary disadvan- 
tages would be experienced. It is, how- 
ever, gratifying to find, as was confidently 
predicted by the friendsof freedom, that they 
have been but temporary, as it is stated, on 



48 



JAMAICA : 



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50 



JAMAICA: 



the authority of the authenticated table of 
exports for the year 1842, (see preceding 
page) that the exports exceeded those of 
1841 by 13,221 hogsheads of sugar, 3850 
puncheons of rum, and 1233 tierces of 
coffee. 

This statement is thus noticed and con- 
firmed by the Editor of the Morning Jour- 
nal in Dec, 1842 : 

" We have been favoured with a view 
of the statements of exports from this island 
during the present year, and have been de- 
lighted at perceiving the increase which 
has taken place over those of 1841. The 
statement is incomplete, not including the 
exports from Port Maria, Lucea, and Savan- 
na-la-mar. , Notwithstanding these omis- 
sions, it appears that 13,221 hogsheads of 
sugar, 3850 puncheons of rum, 1233 
tierces of coffee, have been shipped in 1842 
over and above the shipments of the pre- 
vious year. Our British as well as Jamaica 
readers will be gratified at the increased 
production of our staples, which this state- 
ment shows, and will join us in the anxious 
hope that they will continue to increase in 
the like ratio every year, until our island 
has reached that pitch beyond which in- 
creased production becomes an evil." 

Hhds. Sugar. Pns. Rum. Trcs Coffee. 

1841 - 22,691 8,29S 7,570 

1842 - 36,012 12148 8,803 
Excess - 13,321 3,850 1,233 

The following is an extract from the 
Morning Journal of Feb. 13, 1843 :— 

" Having laid before our readers a state- 
ment of the quantity of produce imported 
into London during the years 1841 and 
1842, with the stock on hand at Christmas 
of each year, and shown the considerable 
increase which had taken place in the im- 
ports of the latter period, we come now to 
exhibit the result upon a more extended 
scale. The return before us embraces the 
Ports of London, Liverpool, Bristol and 
Glasgow, and these being the principal 
ones of the country, the result must be 
considered pretty correct. 

" It appears, then, that the imports of 
the year 1842 of sugar from the West 
Indies exceeded those of the previous year 
by 16,076 hogsheads and tierces, and 5354 
barrels; the imports of 1841 being 136,974 
hogsheads and tierces, and 11,745 barrels, 
and those of 1842, 253,050 hogsheads and 
tierces, and 17,099 barrels. 

" The next article on the list is rum. 



The imports of this article from the West 
Indies increased during the last year, as 
might very reasonably be expected, the 
sugar crops having been larger. Those 
in 1841 were 26,647 puncheons and hogs- 
heads ; and in 1842, 33,814 puncheons 
and hogsheads; total excess, 7167 pun- 
cheons and hogsheads. 

"The imports of pimento in 1842 ex- 
ceeded those of 1841, by 9333 casks and 
bags." 

On this subject we shall give, in the 
words of Lord Stanley, the present secre- 
tary for the colonies, in his place in par- 
liament, an account of the amount and va- 
lue of exports from the British West Indies, 
during a few years before and since the 
abolition of slavery, which is as follows : 

" When he looked to the average quan- 
tity of sugar imported into the United 
Kingdom from the West Indies, he found, 
that during the six years preceding the ap- 
prenticeship it was 3,905,034 cwts. ; that 
during the four years of apprenticeship, it 
fell to 3,486,225 cwts. ; that during the 
first year of freedom, 1839, it fell to 
2,824,106 cwts.; and that during the second 
year of freedom, 1840, it fell to 2,210,226 
cwts. If the house would permit him to 
state this case fully and fairly, they would 
find that the deficiency of the quantity had 
been made up by the increased value of 
the produce in the different intervals. For 
instance, the average value of sugar for 
the six years preceding the apprenticeship 
was 5,320,021/. ; and for the four years of 
the apprenticeship, it was 6,218,801/. In 
the first year of freedom the amount was 
5,530,000/., and in the next year 5,424,- 
000/. ; and, although in this year there 
would be a large reduction, still there 
would be a fair remuneration for what was 
lost by the diminution of produce." We 
may add that, during the past year, the 
export of sugar from the British West In- 
dia colonies was 2,151,217 cwts., making 
an average of 2,395,151 cwts. since the 
introduction of freedom, being nearly two- 
thirds of the amount exported during the 
period of slavery. In the present year, 
the exports are expected to exceed those 
of the last, by from 200,000 to 300,000 
cwts. 

The coins until the passing of the act in 
1839 for the assimilation of the currency 
to that of the United Kingdom, were Spa- 
nish and Portuguese. There were no banks. 



ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 



51 



Money transactions with England were car- 
ried on by means of bills of exchange, usu- 
ally bearing a rate of premium in propor- 
tion to their demand in the market, besides 
the nominal par of exchange. Sometimes 
the premiums have been as high as 23 per 
cent. The only paper currency consisted 
of island checks, issued by the Receiver 
General upon the security of the island and 
its revenue. The gold and silver coins 
were doubloons, pistoles, dollars, half-dol- 
lars, maccaronies, tenpences, and five- 
pences. There was no copper coin cur- 
rent, and the smallest of the silver coin 
was bd. current or 3d. sterling. 

There are now three banks in full ope- 
ration, which have removed a great impe- 
diment to commercial intercourse, and 
greatly facilitated the operations of the 
planter by securing a constant supply of 
metallic currency, thereby acting benefici- 
ally, both on the colonies and the parent 
state. 

The total amount of annually created 
property on the island, such as its agricul- 
tural, vegetable, and animal productions, is 
estimated at upwards of eight millions, and 
the total of movable and immovable, such 
as land, public buildings, domestic proper- 
ty, and money in circulation, at upwards 
of forty-four millions. 



CHAPTER IX. 

WHITE INHABITANTS. 

Their Origin, Settlement, Trades and Professions, Do- 
mestic Habits, Dress — Social Dispositions and Af- 
fections — Manners and Customs — Education, Mo- 
rals, Religion— General Improvement. 

The first white settlers in Jamaica after 
its possession by the British were soldiers 
of the armament under Penn, "Venables, 
and D'Oyly ; immigrants from Ireland and 
Scotland ; pirates and buccaneers, the lat- 
ter of whom had long infested the neigh- 
bouring seas. To these may be added va- 
rious individuals of respectability, judges 
and others, who had taken a conspicuous 
part in the trial of Charles I. Some wealthy 
planters arrived from' Barbadoes ; Scotch 
settlers from Darien ; a number of Jewish 
families, and several naval and military 
officers. These were succeeded from year 
to year by artificers and indented servants, 
together with individuals of different trades 
and professions, more or less reputable as 
to character, from the three kingdoms. 
Some also were from Germany, Portugal, 
St. Domingo, and several of the French 
and Spanish settlements. In process of 
time this heterogeneous mass became 
amalgamated, and from various local cir- 




[Planter, attended by Negro Driver.] 

cumstances, assumed something like a | guished in general as professional men, 
common character. They were distin- 1 planters, merchants, store- keepers, and 



52 



JAMAICA 



tradesmen, with others occupying inferior 
situations under them. 

The descendants of these, the present 
natives of the country, are slender and 
graceful in form, their complexion pale, 
and with a more languid expression of 
countenance than the Europeans ; their 
features are regular, their eyes expressive 
and sparkling, their hair a fine flaxen or 
auburn, their voices soft and pleasing, and 
their whole air and looks tender, gentle, 
and feminine. 

In the furniture of their houses and do- 
mestic habits, the more respectable of the 
white inhabitants, native as well as Euro- 
pean, differ but little from those of the 
same classes in the mother country. In 
consequence of the heat of the climate 
both sexes generally dress in white. As 
throughout the year the duration of the 
day and night is nearly the same, there is 
but little variation in the hours of rising, 
meals and business. Every* morning at 
sun-rise, about 5 o'clock, a gun is fired at 
Port Royal, and again at sunset, about 
seven o'clock. Five or six is the usual 
time of rising, breakfast about eight or nine, 
and a meal called the second breakfast be- 
tween twelve and one. Among the more 
respectable classes, dinner is usually served 
at six or seven in the evening, but few of 
the inhabitants take either tea or supper. 

Though the white inhabitants of Jamaica 
retained in a considerable degree the na- 
tional customs, as well as many of the 
domestic and social habits of their Euro- 
pean ancestors, yet in consequence of the 
peculiar circumstances in which they were 
placed, they rapidly degenerated in their 
mental attainments and general accomplish- 
ments. 

The females, excluded from the advan- 
tages of a liberal education, became addict- 
ed to pleasures, such as horse-races, dances, 
and convivial entertainments, thus acquir- 
ing habits which could not fail to operate 
unfavourably on their domestic circum- 
stances and general character. 

Both sexes became alike the victims of 
pride, avarice, and prejudice, and, though 
kind and generous in their deportment to- 
wards friends and acquaintances, yet to- 
wards others, especially if their inferiors, 
they were reserved, proud, supercilious, 
overbearing and cruel, exhibiting, indeed, 
an anomaly of character perfectly inexpli- 
cable, but for the influence of slavery. 



The aggregate character of the white 
inhabitants, when composed of such ele- 
ments, in a country abounding in facilities 
for the gratification of the worst passions 
of our nature, and where, at the same time, 
they were under the influence of no salu- 
tary restraints, may be in some degree, at 
least, conceived. Lest, however, the testi- 
mony of the writer (though drawn from 
facts collected on the spot, or the result of 
his own personal observation) should be 
liable to suspicion, he will adduce represen- 
tations from historical records ; a portrait 
shall be given as delineated by men who 
were too closely connected with the state 
of things in the colony to be even suspect- 
ed of exaggeration to the disadvantage of 
the parties concerned. The character of 
the white inhabitants was by these writers 
deplored, and mentioned only with a view 
either of exhibiting the progress of reform, 
or of operating as a stimulus to greater im- 
provement ; an object than which nothing 
can be more anxiously desired by the best 
friends of the country. 

" Many of those," says Mr. Long, " who 
succeeded to the management of estates 
had much fewer good qualities than the 
slaves over whom they were set in authori- 
ty, the better sort of whom heartily des- 
pised them, perceiving little or no difference 
from themselves, except in skin and blacker 
depravity." 

The practice of profane swearing was 
awfully prevalent among them. Without 
it every sentence they uttered appeared in- 
complete. Not even the most foolish and 
unimportant story was related without in- 
voking thesacred name of God to attest its 
truth and facilitate its currency. " I have 
often thought," continues the same author, 
" that the lower orders of white servants 
on the plantations exhibit such pictures of 
drunkenness, that the better sort of creole 
blacks have either conceived a disgust at 
the practice that occasions such odious ef- 
fects, or have refrained from it out of a 
kind of pride, as if they would appear supe- 
rior to, and more respectable than, such 
wretches." 

But such practices were not confined to 
the managers and others on estates. The 
vice of drunkenness pervaded all ranks, 
often aggravated in proportion to the pos- 
session of rank and wealth ; — their carou- 
sals being usually accompanied by gam- 
bling and all the evils which follow in its 



ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 



53 



train. " Many gentlemen of rank in the 
country impaired their fortunes and re- 
duced their families to the brink of ruin by 
such excesses. It was not at all unusual 
to see one of them, after losing all his 
money, proceed to stake his carriage and 
horses, that were waiting to convey him 
home, and, after losing these, obliged to re- 
turn on foot. Drunken quarrels happened 
among intimate friends, which generally 
ended in duelling, — a species of crime the 
most awfully prevalent, and resorted to on 
the most trifling occasions. There were 
very few who did not shorten their lives 
by intemperance and violence." 

" The bulk of the uneducated," says 
Stewart, "are dissolute in their lives, and 
shameful in their excesses." Concubinage 
was almost universal, embracing nine- 
tenths of the male inhabitants. Nearly 
every one down to the lowest white ser- 
vant had his native female companion.* 
For the most part the only exceptions were 
to be found in the cases of a few profession- 
al men, merchants, store-keepers in the 
towns (principally Jews), and here and 
there in the country a proprietor or large 
attorney." " The name of a family man," 
says the favourite historian of the colo- 
nists,! " was formerly held in the greatest 
derision, whilst for a white man to form a 
matrimonial alliance with a woman of 
colour, although she might have lived with 
him for years and borne him several child- 
ren, would be for ever to forfeit his rank in 
white society, and to transmit his name to 
posterity in imperishable infamy." The 
most shameless adultery was every where 
prevalent. This sin was so common that 
groups of white and mulatto children, 
legitimate and illegitimate, were frequent- 
ly claimed by the same father, and all 
brought up together under the same roof. 
This gross and open violation of every 
social duty was tolerated without the least 
injury to character even in the estimation 
of females of respectability, or any diminu- 

* Mr. Baillie, a large West Indian proprietor, when 
examined before a Committee of the House of Lords 
in 1832, was asked the question — " Can you name 
any overseer, driver, or other person in authority, 
who does not keep a mistress ?" He replied — " I can- 
not." For this profligacy of manners on estates the 
subordinate white servants were not wholly account- 
able. The formation of more reputable connexions, 
by the wretched policy of proprietors and attorneys, 
would have subjected them to the loss of employ- 
ment. 

t Long. 



tion of public or private respect. Unblush 
ing licentiousness, from the Governor 
downwards throughout all the intermediate 
ranks of society, was notorious in the 
broad light of day. 

It revelled in the multiplicity of its vic- 
tims without resistance and without con- 
trol. 

Renny, who published a history of Ja- 
maica about the year 1807, says, " surely 
there never was a greater inconsistency 
than a profession of religion here. In 
some of the parishes, which are larger 
than our shires, there is no church ; in 
others there is no priest ; and when there 
is, the white inhabitants never think of 
attending. In a town which contains be- 
tween 20 and 30,000 inhabitants, there is 
but one church, whilst the attendance at 
first sight is really somewhat surprising. 
When you enter the church on Sunday, 
you see the curate, the clerk, the sexton, 
one or two magistrates, and about a dozen 
of gentlemen, and nearly double that num- 
ber of ladies. Nothing troubles the white 
inhabitants less than the concerns of reli- 
gion. Christianity, indeed, is so contrary 
in its spirit, in its doctrines, and in its in- 
junctions, to their conduct, their prejudices, 
and their interests, that it is not at all sur- 
prising that even the mutilated form of it 
which the English church presents to them 
should be very obnoxious, and, though not 
much spoken against, yet secretly despised 
and openly neglected." They paid no ex- 
ternal respect to the Sabbath. " In the 
towns," continues the same author, and 
which is also attested by Stewart, " many 
of the stores are open on the Sunday, and 
business is transacted in them as usual, 
with this difference, that the clerks and 
negroes generally have that day to them- 
selves, which the former spend in amuse- 
ment, and the latter in idleness and de- 
bauchery." In the country the Sabbath 
was the grand gala day. The overseers 
on the different estates in each neighbour- 
hood " then meet together, dine alternately 
at each other's houses, and spend the even- 
ing of the day in conversation, smoking, 
drinking, playing at cards, or dancing, and 
sometimes, as it not unfrequently happens, 
in all these employments." That torrent 
of iniquity which on other days was direct- 
ed into its separate and more confined 
channel, seemed on this sacred day to con- 
verge around the festive board. There 



54 



JAMAICA: 



seemed something in the very atmosphere 
of Jamaica unfavourable to religion in a 
white man, for scarcely did he touch her 
shores, than its most important truths were 
forgotten, and its most sacred obligations 
violated. 

" As to the great part of the white colo- 
nists born and brought up in the West In- 
dies," says Mr. Stephens, " I am at a loss 
for any criterion by which their religious 
classification can be fixed. Many of them, 
I believe, have rarely been in a place of 
worship in their lives. Some, it is sup- 
posed, have never been baptized." 

Multitudes of them assumed the scoffers' 
chair, and publicly avowed themselves the 
champions of infidelity. The press was 
also enlisted in the same unhallowed cause, 
and poured out torrents of blasphemy from 
day to day; whilst the whole community, 
regarding religion as hostile to their in- 
terests as it was opposed to their propensi- 
ties, opposition to its introduction by mis- 
sionaries was to be expected. " The first 
time I preached in Kingston," says Dr. 
Coke, " a gentleman, inflamed with liquor, 
began to be very turbulent; till at last, the 
noise increasing, they cried out, ' Down 
with him ! down with him !' They then 
pressed forward through the crowd in 
order to seize me, crying out again, ' Who 
seconds that fellow?' — from whose vio- 
lence I was principally protected by a 
lady. On my first arrival at Montego 
Bay, accompanied by a missionary," he 
continues, " we walked about the streets, 
looking and inquiring for a place to preach 
in, but every door seemed closed against 
us." On the following year he again 
writes: — " The disposition which had voci- 
ferated ' Down with him !' had not yet sub- 
sided. On the contrary, it had raged with 
greater violence, and persecution had put 
on a more terrific form." 

About this time, a new chapel being 
completed, he says — " It was erected in 
the circle of danger, and arose amidst sur- 
rounding storms." 

i" Soon after," he proceeds, " the perse- 
cutions we have experienced in this place 
(Jamaica) far, very far, exceed all perse- 
cutions we have experienced in all the 
other islands unitedly considered." 

Mr. Hammet's life was frequently en- 
dangered. Mr. B., who first opened his 
house, several times narrowly escaped 
being stoned to death. " Often our most 



active friends were obliged to guard our 
chapel, lest the outrageous mob should 
pull it down to the ground." At Spanish 
Town, it appears, he succeeded in procur- 
ing a room for preaching ; but even here 
the same bitter spirit of opposition display- 
ed itself. " When I entered the room," 
he says, " I found it filled with the young 
bucks and bloods, as we used to term the 
debauchees at Oxford, who, during my 
sermon, behaved so rudely that I could 
scarcely proceed." At the Assembly Room 
at Montego Bay, which he obtained for the 
same purpose, he continues — " After I had 
enforced on the audience the great truths 
of Christianity, a company of men, with a 
printer at their head, kept up a loud clap- 
ping of hands for a considerable time. I 
then withdrew into Mr. Brown's dwelling- 
house ; but my companion (Mr. Fish, a 
missionary) lost me, and, going out into 
the street, was instantly surrounded by the 
men, who shouted and swore they would 
first begin with the servant; on which an 
officer of the army drew his sword, and, 
stretching it forth, declared he would run 
it through the body of any one who dared 
to touch the young man." Things pro- 
ceeded to still further extremities. At 
Kingston, and subsequently at Morant Bay, 
several ministers and members of their 
congregations were imprisoned. Among 
the rest was Mr. Gilgrass, a missionary ; 
and that on no other charge than singing 
after six o'clock in the evening in his own 
house. It was under circumstances, too, 
as far as the authorities were concerned, 
of a still more intolerant and disgraceful 
character, as it appears, (and this, it seems, 
was urged in his defence) that he was 
merely learning a tune which a brother 
missionary had just brought from England. 
"At present," says the same excellent 
missionary. " I cannot read in the family, 
or pray, without being cursed worse than a 
pickpocket, and that by white men who 
are called gentlemen." Respecting Mr. 
Hammet, the first missionary who settled 
in Kingston, he adds — "Harassed with 
persecution and fatigue, Mr. H. was at this 
time worn down to a mere skeleton, and 
the restoration of his health appeared ex- 
tremely doubtful. His enemies had often 
killed him in report, and had even in- 
sinuated that he had been buried by his 
friends in a clandestine manner." Dr. C. 
continues — " ' This night,' writes a friend, 



ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 



55 



1 we were assaulted on both sides of the 
house at prayer with a volley of stones, so 
that some were obliged to' fly to the win- 
dows to secure the blinds for fear of our 
sustaining damage/ " Subsequently to this 
were enacted the most intolerant and per- 
secuting laws, which aimed at nothing less 
than the expulsion of the missionaries from 
the island ; but which, being opposed to the 
express command of the " King of kings," 
and, therefore, necessarily disobeyed by 
his servants, they were frequently subject- 
ed to the indignities of the judgment seat 
and the prison. These were, indeed, times 
of rebuke, and blasphemy, and trial.- The 
situation of the missionaries was often pain- 
ful in the extreme ; frequently were they 
compelled to submit to the mandates of 
colonial law, and doomed to witness the 
progress of iniquity, without being permit- 
ted to raise their voice against it. Time 
would fail to enumerate the nature and the 
number of the laws that were successively 
enacted by the Legislature to arrest the 
progress of religious knowledge, and rivet 
afresh the fetters of ignorance upon their 
unhappy vassals. One of these enactments 
restricted the communication of Christian 
instruction to the slaves before sun-rise 
and after sun-set, the only times when 
they could possibly attend for such a pur- 
pose ; another was an act by which every 
missionary was subjected to a fine of 201. 
for every negro found in his congregation ; 
these were followed by a succession of 
others of the same nature and spirit too 
tedious to detail, down to the period of the 
last eventful insurrection in 1832. Thus 
the whites, notwithstanding their superior 
advantages, instead of being the most re- 
spectable and happy members of society, 
were the most wretched and corrupt — so 
far from setting a good example to their 
dependants, they adopted every possible 
means to impair the reverence due to reli- 
gion, and to weaken the hinges of moral 
action. The very term " sectarian" served 
as a convenient synonyme for ignorance 
and persecution, while misrepresentation 
and calumny were most liberally employed 
to alienate the people, generally, from the 
hallowed institutions of religion, and to 
excite their prejudices and their passions 
against its ministers. 

The following examples will illustrate 
and confirm the truth of the preceding ob- 
servations : — 



On one occasion, when in the interior 
of the country, an application was made 
by a white man for an interview with a 
missionary, who soon perceived that he 
had been favoured with a religious educa- 
tion, and that, although his career had 
been marked by great excesses, that he 
was not wholly insensible to moral feeling ; 
and the missionary, therefore, endeavoured, 
in a faithful and affectionate manner, to 
press upon his attention the great truths of 
the Gospel. The tears started in his eyes, 
and he exclaimed, with apparent anguish, 
of heart, "What, sir, shall I do? You 
have no idea of the degree of wickedness 
that prevails among the people of my own 
colour throughout the country. I am a 
poor man, and, therefore, cannot leave the 
island, or else most gladly would I do so ; 
besides, I am now out of employment ; and 
were it known that I had attended the 
preaching of a missionary, or were it even 
known that I had spoken to one (and it 
will be known throughout the parish before 
to-morrow night), what think you will be 
the treatment I shall receive from the over- 
seers of the different properties when I go 
in pursuit of employment?" The conclu- 
sion of his statement must be omitted. 

On another occasion a missionary met 
with an individual who had once made a 
profession of religion, but who had long 
since awfully fallen, had given himself up 
to sin, and to work all uncleanness with 
greediness. He had attended a religious 
meeting, and the singing, combined with 
other circumstances, awakening some long 
slumbering recollections, although partially 
intoxicated, he requested an interview. He 
seemed wretched, and repeatedly exclaim- 
ed, " O, this country ! I am a wretched 
and miserable man. So far as the body 
is concerned, I have enough and to spare, 
but my soul ! what, is to become of that ? 
I have never had a happy moment, sir, 
since I turned my back upon God !" 

An apparently pious and excellent man, 
just arrived from Scotland, was urged by 
a near relative to give up his religion at 
once, as it would ruin and disgrace them 
both. On his refusal he was turned out 
of doors, and directed to seek employment 
as a book-keeper on an estate. He did 
so ; and on an interview which he sought 
with his relative (for he seemed to have had 
the spirit as well as the circumstantials of 
genuine piety) previously to his entering 



56 



JAMAICA: 



upon the duties of his new situation, what 
does the reader think constituted the es- 
sence of the parting adieu 1 — " If your 
religion is not beaten out of you in a few 
days," said the experienced libertine and 
atheist, " I shall be sadly out of my reckon- 
ing." Lamentable to relate, this predic- 
tion, as has doubtless been the case in 
hundreds of similar instances, was but too 
strictly verified. 

" I have just been conversing," said a 
friend to a missionary one evening, " with 
a professional gentleman from the country, 
on the subject of religion. He wept aloud, 
and said, ' that Jamaica was a hell upon 
earth.' " 

These are plain irrefutable facts. So 
plain and so irrefutable that the conscience 
of every man acquainted with the general 
state of society, if suffered to speak out, 
would unhesitatingly confirm them. 

On some estates it was customary for 
the head book-keeper to read the burial- 
service at the funerals of the christened 
negroes. It was so at R. H. ; and on the 
death of a pious negro the book-keeper ap- 
peared at the appointed time at the place 
of interment, and, placing himself at the 
side of the grave, opened the prayer-book 
and began the service. He was agitated, 
and read the few first lines with a falter- 
ing voice, but when he came to that part 
of it which refers to the resurrection of the 
dead, he trembled to such a degree that 
the book fell from his hands, and running 
hastily away left the corpse uninterred. 
The deceased having been much respected, 
the funeral procession was numerous, com- 
posed of almost all the negroes on the 
estate, and others of piety from the sur- 
rounding ones. These were all witnesses 
of this spectacle, and were at length obliged 
to perform the last sad offices themselves. 
Many of the poor people who were present 
declared this to be a fact, and moreover 
asserted that the book-keeper, when his 
terror had subsided, swore that he would 
never act as chaplain again. 

C , a planting attorney who had 

been a great tyrant to the slaves under his 
charge, was so afraid of being poisoned by 
some of them that he would not eat any- 
thing unless it had been prepared and 
cooked for him by his house-keeper. He 
even thought that this was not exercising 
sufficient caution, but kept a boy, the ille- 
gitimate offspring of one of the white men 



on the estate, constantly sitting on the 
threshold of the cook-house, during the 
process, to watch lest any negro entered 
either it or his dwelling, having the door 
of the cook-house carefully locked in the 
interval. He at one time thought that his 
vigilance had been eluded, and that he 
was slightly poisoned. He was wretched, 
and his health became gradually impaired. 
For its restoration he performed a voyage 
to his native country. During his ab- 
scence his slaves received more humane 
treatment, and were comparatively happy. 
After the lapse of a period which seemed 
to justify the hope that they would never 
again be subjected to his despotic sway, 
and when cheerfully at work on the public 
road, his return was announced. They 
heard the tidings with consternation, and 
on its being added by their informant that 
he was on the road, and would soon be 
in sight, they simultaneously threw down 
their hoes and fled into the woods, shout- 
ing " O, da buckra da come again, come 
kill we." Perceiving the terror his appear- 
ance created he again became wretched, 
and at last left the island with a determina- 
tion never to return to it again. 

As they have lived so many of them 
have died. Justly may it be asked, " Who 
ever fought against God and prospered?" 

Mr. , abhorred by almost all who 

had a tinge of colour in their complexion, 
a proprietor and a magistrate, among his 
other vices, was much addicted to the use 
of ardent spirits. A short time before his 
death, though confined to his bed, from 
which he had no prospect of rising again, 
he was in a state of constant intoxication. 
The brandy-bottle which for years had 
stood constantly by his bed-side was fre- 
quently emptied during the course of twen- 
ty-four hours. A few minutes before he 
ceased to breathe he vociferated so loudly 
and furiously for more that he was heard 
at some distance. On entering his cham- 
ber the blood which had flowed from his 
mouth as the effect of mercury and fever, 
was seen besmeared over his face, which, 
together with his fiend-like ravings, gave 
such an aspect of horror to his countenance 
and gestures that even his negro servants 
and other attendants were afraid to go near 
him, and their terror was not a little in- 
creased by the horrible imprecations he 
uttered and the curses he called down upon 
them for not obeying his commands. He 



ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 



57 



expired on the floor, in the midst of blas- 
phemies, while attempting to revenge him- 
self on his attendants for their neglect. 

Within the last twenty years, but more 
remarkably since 1838, a very considera- 
ble improvement has become perceptible in 
this class of society, especially in the 
towns, and in particular districts of the 
country.* Public opinion in the mother 
country, and more frequent contact with 
Europeans of both sexes, added to the in- 
fluence which has been exerted by family 
men, as Governors, Judges, and profes- 
sional men in general, have served to sti- 
mulate the Jamaica females to the-posses- 
sion of superior accomplishments and the 
cultivation of more controllable and gene- 
rous feelings. Numbers of them also have 
been educated in the first board ing.schools 
in England, and have therefore, as maybe 
supposed, effected considerable reformation 
in the circles in which they have after- 
wards moved. Some, it is true, have re- 
lapsed into the listless, apathetic habits of 
those around them ; but a progressive ad- 
vancement in delicacy of feeling, liberality' 
of sentiment, and in all the refinements of 
polished society, is clearly perceptible. 
Many ladies in Jamaica, both as to their 
persons, manners, and general character, 
would be an ornament to any society in 
the world. 

A considerable reformation has also 
been effected in the moral and social ha- 
bits of the other sex, especially in the 
towns. In the country, with some excep- 
tions in favour of particular districts, and 
isolated families, it is painful to add that 
the picture as previously drawn is still but 
a too faithful representation. So difficult 
is it for anything short of divine agency to 
correct inveterate habits of evil, that drun- 
kenness, profane swearing, concubinage, 
and licentiousness, with every other kind 
and degree of wickedness, still prevails to 
an awful extent, although less unhlushing- 
ly than formerly. Proprietors, if they 
cannot be prevailed upon to act from 
higher motives, cannot fail in a short time 
to discover it to be their interest, to encou- 
rage, rather than discountenance, the for- 
mation of more reputable connexions by 
managers and others on their estates. Not 

* The families of the Marquis of Sligo and Sir Lio- 
nel Smith exerted an especially beneficial influence 
in elevating the tone and character of society among 
the upper classes. 



only is the practice of concubinage awfully 
demoralizing to all classes and colours, as 
well as a source of misery to a body of 
men, some of whom are desirous of culti- 
vating the social virtues, but from the in- 
fluence of religion on the minds of the pea- 
santry, it renders the perpetrators pitiable, 
if not despicable, in their estimation, and 
will tend powerfully to prevent the growth 
of that mutual respect and confidence 
which are essential to prosperity and hap- 
piness in a state of freedom. The forego- 
ing statements may be regarded as descrip- 
tive of white society in the country dis- 
tricts at the present day. The exceptions, 
which are gradually increasing, being from 
their secluded habits comparatively isola- 
ted and unknown, do not at present afford 
any material relief to the dark and forbid- 
ding outline. 

It is delightful to contemplate the change 
which in this respect has taken place in the 
towns. Here a goodly and rapidly in- 
creasing number have abandoned their 
former licentious habits, and have entered 
the marriage state. Amongst these it must 
be confessed that the Jews furnish the most 
numerous and reputable examples. Among 
them marriages with persons of their own 
nation have always been common, and are 
obviously on the increase ; whilst the dis- 
grace formerly attached to a matrimonial 
alliance of a white man with a female of 
colour no longer exists, numbersof the most 
influential individuals in the colony having 
broken down the barrier which a popular, 
but corrupt, prejudice had raised against it. 
Hence some of the highest civic officers 
and merchants, with others in all classes 
of society, have lately married the mo- 
thers of their families, and have availed 
themselves of the advantages of a retro- 
spective clause in a recent Marriage Act, 
which, under such circumstances, legiti- 
matizes their children. Embracing all 
these redeeming features, however, even 
with regard to the more densely populated 
and more highly civilized parts of the 
island, and placing them in the most con- 
spicuous and advantageous light, it must 
still be confessed that they are but as 
specks of verdure amidst universal bar- 
renness and desolation — as obscured and 
scattered lights amidst thick and prevailing 
darkness. 

These vices are yet to be met with in 
high places. They "are still patronized to 



58 



JAMAICA 



a fearful degree by the examples of mer- 
chants, tradesmen, and some high public 
functionaries. It is yet the case, that 
crimes which in other countries would be 
considered and treated as a wanton insult 
to society at large, do not generally ex- 
clude the guilty parties from the pale of 
respectable society, or generally operate to 
their disadvantage among the female por- 
tion of the community. The reckless de- 
stroyers of female innocence and happi- 
ness still unite in the dance, mingle in pub- 
lic entertainments, are sometimes admitted 
at the social board, and are on terms of in- 
timacy with the younger branches of fa- 
milies. Nor, revolting as it may be to 
English feelings, is it much otherwise to- 
wards a known and habitual adulterer. 
Nor is this all ; the possession of an illicit 
establishment by a suitor even at the pre- 
sent day operates as no objection in the 
mind of a Jamaica female to an alliance 
with him in marriage. It is not indeed un- 
usual, in the event of satisfactory arrange- 
mentsof a pecuniary kind being previously 
made, for the quondam mistress to assist 
in the arrangements for the marriage cere- 
mony, to reside on some part of the pre- 
mises, or to continue on terms of intimacy 
with the family of her former lord. 

When will the respectable families and 
individuals of Jamaica v/ipe away the re- 
proach which such practices cannot fail to 
fix upon their characters 1 That the bar- 
barism and demoralizing influence of such 
a state of things are becoming the subjects 
of increasing discussion among all classes ; 
that they are repudiated, privately con- 
demned, and in solitary instances publicly 
discountenanced, is evident. All that is 
required in order to correct, and finally to 
annihilate, the monstrous evil, is for ie- 
males and family men in general to make 
against it at once a vigorous and deter- 
mined stand. 

With so much that is evil in the moral 
and social condition of the white inhabi- 
tants, it will scarcely be expected that a 
very flattering account can be given of their 
general progression with regard to the great 
subject of religion. A darkness in this re- 
spect thick, gross, and palpable still pre- 
vails. Not only is there manifested the 
most awful indifference to the obligations 
of Christianity, but in numberless cases 
the most contemptuous disregard of it ; in 
a word, infidelity, so congenial with long 



habits, and so suitable with depraved tastes 
and inclinations, still obtains to a very great 
extent, fostered and confirmed by the vile 
publications, few in number though they 
are, found upon estates, and the almost en- 
tire restriction of intercourse in such places 
to corrupt and vicious company. Pre. 
judice against religion and its professors, 
however, is becoming far less inveterate 
and general among all classes of the whites 
throughout the country. Many have ex- 
emplified their liberality by assisting mis- 
sionaries in various ways in the erection 
of chapels and school-houses, while out- 
ward persecution has entirely ceased. 

Multitudes of planters and merchants, 
who were once the greatest enemies to re- 
ligion and its professors, are now occasion- 
ally seen in a place of worship on the Sab- 
bath. Whilst many have lately become 
savingly converted to God, have put on 
Christ by an open profession of his name, 
have formed reputable connexions in mar- 
riage, are ornaments to society, blessings 
to all around them, are confided in, es- 
teemed, and- beloved by the peasantry, and 
will unfailingly secure the prosperity of the 
properties of which they are either the pro- 
prietors or managers.* 

The extent to which the change with re- 
spect to religion has taken place in the 
towns can scarcely be conceived even by 
those who are most sanguine as to the pro- 



* An overseer, or, as he is more properly called in 
some other islands, manager, is the principal person 
on an estate under the proprietor or his attorney. A 
book-keeper is subordinate to the overseer, and su- 
perintends the labours of the field, and the manufac- 
ture of its produce. The latter appellation is most 
inappropriate — a Jamaica book-keeper having no 
books to keep. 

One of the greatest blessings that could be confer- 
red on white servants on estates would be a library 
of good and useful books. There have been instan- 
ces known in which two or three infidel publications 
have been all that some poor book-keepers and others 
have seen for years, and which, in a lew leisure mo- 
ments after the toils of the day, or in times of reco- 
very from sickness, they have been almost compelled 
to read to beguile the tediousness of their solitary and 
oftentimes melancholy hours. After all, our white 
countrymen on estates and properties in the interior 
of the country have been, and are still, in a situation 
very far from enviable ; and it is high time that some- 
thing should be done for their improvement and com- 
fort. 

In some large manufactories, &c, in England, pro- 
prietors feel it to their interest to promote the morals 
of their dependants, and for this purpose connect li- 
braries with their establishments, and in every other 
way endeavour to promote their social and domestic 
comfort. Surely West Indian proprietors are to be 
found who only need to be reminded of the mutual 
advantages to be derived from similar means in order 
to their speedy adoption. 



ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 



59 



gress of favourable events. The Sabbath 
day is now recognised as the day of God. 
Hundreds of the most respectable families 
are seen attending different places of reli- 
gious worship who a short time since were 
scarcely ever within the walls of such an 
edifice. The Bible is no longer a proscribed 
or unknown book, nor are children brought 
up either to ridicule its hallowed doctrines 
or to despise its salutary restraints. 

Bible societies, school societies, anti-sla- 
very societies, and various institutions of a 
similar kind, have at length excited the 
sympathies and co-operation of the respec- 
table female portion of the community ; 
and gentlemen of the first standing in so- 
ciety are no longer ashamed to advocate 
the claims of such institutions by presiding 
at their anniversaries and contributing libe- 
rally and openly to their funds. The opi- 
nion that religion consisted only in an oc- 
casional attendance at the parish church is 
no longer general. It begins to be regard- 
ed as a daily and personal concern, and 
has become the subject of conversation in 
families where a little time ago its intro- 
duction would have excited ridicule or con- 
tempt. 

Books of all descriptions, many of them 
the Tract Society's publications, have found 
their way into private libraries, — are found 
on drawing-room tables, — and are exten- 
sively read. Above all, a. family altar is 
erected in the houses of many leading men 
in the community, at which they them- 
selves preside, — a practice which even ten 
years since would have subjected them in 
the public newspapers to contempt and 
scorn, and which, with the exception of a 
few isolated instances among laymen, was 
then totally unknown. The elevating and 
purifying influences of religion are extend- 
ing themselves among our countrymen and 
their descendants, encouraging the hope 
that irreligion and profligacy, persecution 
and bigotry, the unfailing concomitants of 
slavery, will disappear with the system 
which nurtured them to such an awful ma- 
turity and power. 



CHAPTER X. 

PEOPLE OF COLOUR AND FKEE BLACKS. 

Former condition — Causes of difference of Com- 
plexion and Circumstances — Political State — Pro- 
scription from Society of White Inhabitants — Low 
State of Morals — Removal of Disabilities — Rapid 
Advancement in civilization and the Social Scale — 
Present Condition. 

With the exception of the Maroons, or 
" Hog-hunters," as the term imports, de- 
scendants of the slaves whom the Spa- 
niards left behind them on the conquest of 
the island by the British, the inhabitants 
were divided into only two distinctive class- 
es, white and black ; the external peculi- 
arities of which determined the condition 
of the parties as it respected slavery or 
freedom. In process of time, owing to 
manumissions granted to domestics as a 
reward for long and faithful services, toge- 
ther with those on whom that boon had 
been bestowed by the House of Assembly, 
chiefly for distinguished efforts in endea- 
vouring to restore tranquillity to their oft 
distracted community, in addition to the 
favoured few who had been enabled to ob- 
tain their enfranchisement by purchase, 
there arose, from among the sons and 
daughters of Ethiopia, an increasing body 
of persons of free condition denominated 
free blacks and people of colour. The lat- 
ter, descended from an intermixture of 
whites, blacks, and Indians, soon formed 
an intermediate race, whom the Spaniards 
distinguished by appellations varying ac- 
cording to their approach in consanguinity 
to their white or black progenitors. Five 
principal varieties are generally enumera- 
ted as descending from the original negro 
stock, the sambos, mulattoes, quadroons, 
mestees, and mestipbinoes. But to' these 
refined distinctions, the Spaniards add the 
tercirons and the giveros, whom they are 
said to have proscribed and banished as 
beings of the worst inclinations and prin- 
ciples. The Dutch recognised gradations 
still more minute, and which they attempt 
to distinguish and designate by adding 
drops of pure water to a single drop of 
dusky liquor until it becomes nearly trans- 
parent. 

A sambo is the offspring of a black wo- 
man by a mulatto man. A mulatto is the 
child of a black woman by a white man. 
A quadroon is the offspring of a mulatto 
woman by a white man, and a mestee is 



60 



JAMAICA: 



that of a quadroon woman by a white man. 
The offspring of a female mestee by a 
white man being above the third in li- 
neal descent from the negro ancestor was 
white in the estimation of the law, and en- 
joyed all the privileges and immunities of 
Her Majesty's white subjects, but all the 
rest, whether mulattoes, quadroons, or mes- 
tees, were considered by the law as mulat- 
toes or persons of colour. A creole, what- 
ever his condition or external peculiarities, 
is a native; thus it is customary to say, a 
Creole white, a creole of colour, or a Cre- 
ole black. 

The colonial legislature, gravely assum- 
ing that recently enfranchised blacks could 
acquire no sense of morality by the mere 
act of manumission (although it cannot be 
doubted but that, in reality, they were in- 
fluenced by far less exceptionable motives); 
the political and civil condition of this class 
was of the most abject and oppressive cha- 
racter, desirable only when compared with 
the bondage to which it had succeeded. 
They were not admitted as evidence against 
white or other free-born persons in courts of 
justice, or allowed to vote at parochial or 
general elections. Like the common slaves, 
the only mode of trial which they were 
granted, was by two justices and three 
freeholders, the judges themselves being 
probably interested in the issue of the case. 
Nor did even the people of colour possess 
immunities to an extent to justify their 
claim to freedom even in the most restrict- 
ed import of the term. However wealthy 
or respectable — and some of them were 
equally so with many of the more privi- 
leged whites — their evidence was inadmis- 
sible in criminal cases, both against white 
persons and those of their own colour. 
The right of trial by a jury of their own 
peers conceded by the British constitution 
even to foreigners, was denied to them. 
They were ineligible to the office of ma- 
gistrates or churchwardens, to serve on pa- 
rochial vestries, to hold commissions in 
the black and coloured companies of mili- 
tia, or to sit on juries. To this catalogue 
of disabilities may be added those created 
by the 35th section of the colonial statute, 
which enacts, " that no Jew, mulatto, In- 
dian, or negro, shall be capable to officiate, 
or be employed, to unite in, or for, any of 
the public offices therein mentioned." They 
were not eligible to the office of a common 
constable, or even to the situation of over- 



seers or book-keepers on estates. Not 
only were they excluded from the privilege 
of representing their own colour in the 
colonial assembly, but they had no elective 
franchise, and were consequently denied 
the right of even voting at elections for the 
return of white members to the assembly, 
and thus virtually refused all right of re- 
presentation. It was even held illegal for 
them to possess property beyond a certain 
amount, lest they might acquire an influ- 
ence which they might one day exert " in- 
juriously to the island." Thus in an act 
of assembly passed in the year 1762, it is 
declared " that a testamentary devise from 
a white person to a negro, or mulatto not 
born in wedlock, of a real and personal 
estate exceeding in value 2000/. currency, 
or about 1200Z. sterling, shall be void, and 
the property shall descend to the heir at 
law." They were not allowed to possess 
either a sugar or a coffee estate ; and no 
one of them, except he possessed a settle- 
ment with ten slaves upon it, could keep 
any horses, mares, mules, asses or neat 
cattle on penalty of forfeiture.* Those 
who had not settlements were obliged to 
furnish themselves with certificates of their 
freedom under the hand and seal of a jus- 
tice, and to wear a blue cross on the right 
shoulder on pain of imprisonment. If free 
coloured individuals were convicted of con- 
cealing, enticing, entertaining, or sending 
off the island, any fugitive, rebellious or 
other slave, they were to forfeit their free- 
dom, be sold and banished. Unless the 
fact could he incontestably certified by 
documents, there was a legal presumption 
against the freedom of a black or coloured 
man, and in the event of the inability of 
such individuals to produce satisfactory 
documents, cases which were of constant 
occurrence, he was committed to the work- 
house, worked in chains, ultimately sold 
by auction to defray the expenses of his 
imprisonment, and himself and his poste- 
rity doomed to perpetual bondage. On 
every hand were they goaded by oppres- 
sion as cruel and unnatural as it was un- 
just and impolitic. Fear is the offspring 
of tyranny and the companion of guilt ; 
hence the whites were continually conjuring 
up dreams of rebellion and massacre. 
Scarcely therefore could these inoffensive 
people meet together without being sus- 



*Long, vol. ii.,pp. 321-323. 



ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 



61 



peeled of insurrectionory designs. Nor 
were the whites negligent in devising ex- 
pedients to banish the most influential of 
them from the colony as persons of dan- 
gerous principles. This object indeed they 
effected in the year 1823, by the operation 
of an alien act introduced into the Legisla- 
ture for no other purpose. The first vic- 
tims of this disgraceful statute were Messrs. 
Lescene, Escoffery, and Gonville, whose 
cause was so ably and triumphantly plead- 
ed before the British parliament by Dr. 
Lushington. 

Not only were they oppressed and bowed 
down by the operation of unjust and cruel 
laws, but there was yet another circum- 
stance connected with the condition of the 
coloured and black population, in some re- 
spects still more painful. The most inve- 
terate prejudices existed against them on 
account of their colour. Hence they were 
universally prohibited all intercourse of 
equality with the whites, and if of such an 
opprobrious distinction they ventured to 
complain, they were often insultingly told 
that they were " the descendants of the 
ourang-outang;" that their mothers hunted 
the tiger in the wilds of Africa ; and that, 
but for the generosity of their sires, in place 
of possessing freedom and property, their 
lot would have been to dig cane-holes be- 
neath the discipline of the driver's cart- 
whip. 

At church, if a man of colour, however 
respectable in circumstances or character, 
entered the pew of the lowest white man, 
he was instantly ordered out. At any 
place of public entertainment designed for 
the whites, he never dared to make his ap- 
pearance. With the people of colour, in- 
deed, the whites, like the Egyptians in re- 
ference to the Israelites, held it an abomi- 
nation even to eat bread. This senseless 
prejudice haunted its victims in the " hos- 
pital where humanity suffers, in the prison 
where it expiates its offences, and in the 
grave-yards where it sleeps the last sleep." 
In whomsoever the least trace of an Afri- 
can origin could be discovered, the curse 
of slavery pursued him, and no advantages 
either of wealth, talent, virtue, education, 
or accomplishments, were sufficient to re- 
lieve him from the infamous proscription. 

Under these circumstances, who can be 
surprised that, among this class also, there 
should have existed an awful laxity of mo- 
rals? Unlike their white progenitors, how- 



ever, they were not generally chargeable 
with the vice of drunkenness, with opposi- 
tion to the spread of religion, nor with 
bigotry, infidelity, and persecution. In 
every other respect, especially in licen- 
tiousness, they but too faithfully followed 
the example of the privileged orders. Al- 
luding to the people of colour, says Stewart 
in 1823, " few marriages take place among 
them. Most of the females of colour think 
it more genteel to be the kept mistress of a 
white man." They viewed marriage as 
an unnecessary restraint. Worse than 
this; — and can it be heard by Christian 
parents without a thrill of horror 1 — in hun- 
dreds of instances, mothers and fathers 
gave away in friendship, or sold, their 
daughters at the tenderest ages for the 
worst of purposes, or became the guardians 
of their virtue for a time only to enhance 
its future price. 

" Bred only and completed to the taste 
Of lustful appetence, to sing, to dance, 
To troll the tongue and roll the eye." 

These were not isolated cases, exceptions 
rather than general rules ; so common was 
the practice that negotiations for these 
purposes were carried on at noonday. 
Such was the debasement of moral feeling, 
that the most infamous excesses were per- 
petrated without a blush of shame, and 
among this class also there was one uni- 
versal riot in the vicious indulgences of an 
indiscriminate sensuality. 

Parents the reckless murderers of the 
innocence of their own offspring! Wan- 
ton and infamous abandonment of every 
fine and virtuous feeling ! Alas ! for the 
influence of slavery. 

By the efforts of a few noble spirits 
among their body, amongst whom as the 
most conspicuous and influential were Ri- 
chard Hill and Edward Jordon, Esqs., to- 
gether with Messrs. Lescene, Escoffery, 
and Gonville, their disabilities were at 
length removed, and they were admitted 
to a full participation of civil privileges 
with the whites. This occurred in the 
year 1828. Relieved from those proscrip- 
tions by which they had been enthralled 
and bowed down, they as a body immedi- 
ately began to advance in the scale of civi- 
lization, intelligence, and virtue, so that at 
the present time they discover a renovation 
of character and a degree of improvement 
in manners, customs, and knowledge, of 
which history, in a similar space of time, 



62 



JAMAICA : 



scarcely affords a parallel. In their houses, 
dress, personal appearance (complexion ex- 
cepted), general deportment, wealth, mo- 
rals, and religion, many of them are on an 
equality with the most respectable of the 
whites. Nor are they less so in the higher 
attainments of the mind. There are now 
to be found among them men of talent, 
learning, and accomplishments, who would 
do honour to any community. They 
fill the public offices, practise as solicitors 
and barristers in the courts of law; are 
found among our tradesmen, merchants, 
and estate proprietors ; are directors of our 
civil institutions ; are enrolled among our 
magistrates ; and have even obtained a seat 
and influence in the senate. The genero- 
sity of the females of colour has ever been 
proverbial ; and their kindness to strangers 
suffering from the diseases of the country 
has won for them universal gratitude and 
admiration. Neither are they less remark- 
able for their social and domestic qualities. 
There have always been found among them 
some who in no respect suffered by a com- 
parison with the most respectable of the 
whites. For several years this number has 
been increasing, and soon, by the posses- 
sion of equal advantages, every thing like 
a characteristic distinction between these 
two classes will be lost. 

" Children we are all 
Of one great Faiher, in whatever clime 



His providence hath cast the seed of life, — 

All tongues, all colours ! Neither after death 

Shall we be sorted into languages 

And tints — white, black, and tawny, Greek and Goth, 

Northman and offspring of hot Africa; 

Th' all-seeing Father — he in whom we live and 

move — 
He, th' indifferent Judge of all — regards 
Nations, and hues, and dialects alike: 
According to their works shall they be judged." 

With this advancement on the part of 
the more educated portion of the people of 
colour there has been also a corresponding 
improvement on the part of the working 
classes and the higher orders of the blacks. 
The latter have advanced to that degree in 
the scale of civilization and intelligence 
formerly occupied by the people of colour, 
and the former to that previously held by 
their more favoured white brethren. 

In no respect do these now differ from 
the middling and lower classes of trades- 
men and others in England. Their eyes 
have long been open to the disgrace and 
sin of concubinage, and marriage among 
them has become common. The eye of 
the Christian is now delighted, especially 
on the Sabbath, by the spectacle of multi- 
tudes of these classes with their families 
walking to and from the house of God in 
company. 

As in every other community, some may 
live together unhappily, or may violate the 
sacred compact, but with the great majority 
it is otherwise. None can be better hus- 




[ Mulatto and Black Female of the upper classes.] 



ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 



63 



bands, better wives, more affectionate 
parents, or better members of civil society. 
Nor are any people in general better dis- 
posed towards the great subject of religion. 



CHAPTER XL 

Sect. I. Political Condition of the Black Po- 
pulation. — Origin of the Slave Trade — Its Atro- 
cities — Slaves, when first brought to Jamaica, and 
by whotn — Dreadful Nature and consequences of 
Slavery as it existed in Jamaica. 

Sect. II. Abolition of the Slave Trade. — Origin 
of the African Institution— Efforts for ameliorating 
the Condition of the Slaves — Conduct of the Ja- 
maica House of Assembly — Insurrection or Distur- 
bance in 1832 and 1833 — Its real Causes — Destruc- 
tion of Mission Property — Wanton and Awful Sa- 
crifice of Negro Life by the Whites — Imprison- 
ment and Trial of Missionaries— Their triumphant 
Acquittal. 

Sect. III. The Apprenticeship System. — Tts Impo- 
licy, Injustice, and Cruelty — Inefficiency as a Pre- 
parative to Freedom — Special Magistrates — Exci- 
ted and utisetiled State of the Black Population as 
the Result of the Operation of this Systpm — Re- 
presentation of the State of Things by Missiona- 
ries — Messrs. Sturge, Harvey, and others. 

Sect. IV. Total Emancipation. — Manner in which 
it was celebrated — Conduct of the Newly-Emanci- 
pated — Conduct of the Planters — Subsequent Dif- 
ferences — Establishment of new Villages — Resto- 
ration to Harmony and Peace — General Prosperity 
and Happiness. 

Section I. — It has been already stated 
that, previously to its possession by the 
British, negroes had been imported into 
Jamaica by the Spaniards, a crime to the 
commission of which they were impelled 
by avarice, regarding it as the best means 
of supplying the want of labourers cre- 
ated by the destruction of the aboriginal 
inhabitants. In thus making merchandise 
of the bodies and souls of men they fol- 
lowed the example of the Portuguese, who 
began the infamous traffic in 1442 at Cape 
Bojador, under their celebrated navigator 
Anthony Gonzalez. Great numbers are 
said to have been imported into Jamaica as 
early as 1551, under the sanction of Fer- 
dinand V. of Spain. 

But the first cargo of which we have 
any authentic record was conveyed to the 
island by some Genoese merchants in 
1517, to whom the Emperor Charles V. 
granted a patent for the annual supply of 
4000 slaves to his West Indian possessions 
generally. 

The traffic was found to be lucrative, 
and the lust of avarice obliterating all 



sense of justice and every feeling of huma- 
nity, it was soon participated in by all the 
great maritime powers of Europe. 

The first Englishman who thus disho- 
noured himself and his country was Cap- 
tain, afterwards Sir John Hawkins, who, 
in conjunction with several wealthy mer- 
chants in London, fitted out three ships on 
this execrable enterprise in 1562. 

Sanctioned by Charles I. and II., as 
well as by succeeding monarchs, to such 
an extent had it increased under the Bri- 
tish flag, that, in 1771, one hundred and 
ninety-two ships were employed in the 
trade, and the number of slaves imported 
was from 38,000 to 40,000. 

The hapless victims of this revolting 
system were natives of the African conti- 
nent — men of the same common origin 
with ourselves, — of the same form and de- 
lineation of feature, though with a darker 
skin, — men endowed with minds equal in 
dignity, equal in capacity, and equal in 
duration of existence, — men of the same 
social dispositions and affections, and de- 
stined to occupy the same rank with our- 
selves in the great family of man. 

The means by which they were obtain- 
ed were in the highest degree unlawful and 
unjust. Their inhuman captors had no- 
thing like a colourable pretext to assign for 
their rapacity : their fiend-like purposes 
were accomplished by violence, fire, and 
every other instrument of devastation and 
murder which sagacity could contrive, or 
the lust of avarice prompt. Every tie, hu- 
man and divine, was violated. 

Nobles and princes were severed from 
their tribes and territories ; husbands, 
wives, and children from jeach other. 
They were barbarously manacled, — driven 
like herds of cattle to the sea-shore, often- 
times at a distance of some hundreds of 
miles, exposed to the burning heat and 
pestilential atmosphere of their sun-burnt 
lands, and ..then crowded into the holds of 
slave-ships. Arrived at the destined port 
(for a veil must be cast over the horrors of 
the middle passage), these poor wretches 
were sold at public outcry to the highest 
bidder, — were driven in chains (frequently 
naked) by their purchasers to their respec- 
tive domiciles, and the greater part of them 
doomed to toil almost without rest or inter- 
mission, until relieved by death from their 
captivity and suffering. 

Chiefly by the self-denying and arduous 



64 



JAMAICA : 



exertions of the eminent philanthropists 
Sharpe, Clarkson, and Wilberforce, aided 
by different religious bodies, but especially 
by the Society of Friends, the righteous 
indignation of the British people was at 
length aroused by the atrocities which this 
hateful traffic involved, and, no longer 
able to resist the united claims of reason, 
justice and humanity, in 1807 the imperial 
parliament decreed its abolition. While, 
however, this act prevented the importa- 
tion of fresh victims into the colony, 
slavery itself, with all its enormities, still 
existed. Those already brought were re- 
duced to a state of vassalage, the most de- 
grading to which human beings could be 
subjected, stripped of every right that life 
holds dear, outcasts from the common 
privileges of humanity, deprived of the 
essential attributes of man, without a legal 
claim to the produce of their own labour, 
or even to the possession of their wives 
and children. Driven to their labour by 
the cart-whip, classed with appurtenances 
of the estates to which they belonged, and 
bred for the exclusive purposes of sale and 
labour, their condition was not distinguish- 
able from that of the passive brute. As 
though to keep their spirits in perpetual 
prostration, and to extinguish every spark 
of the man within them, many were 
branded like sheep or oxen, with the ini- 
tials of their owner's name, an indignity 
to which they were liable as often as their 
purchaser was changed. They were per- 
petually liable to arbitrary, indecent, and 
excessive punishment. The most trifling 
circumstances could easily be magnified 
into crimes which would nerve the arm of 
the despot to whom this power was dele- 
gated, and who, at his pleasure, could in- 
flict whatever punishment he chose, with- 
out any regard to condition, sex or age. 

Not only did the task-master torture the 
bodies of his vassals by the whip, but he 
also corrupted their morals by his licen- 
tiousness. There was no law either to 
guard the chastity of a female slave, or to 
avenge any insult that might be offered 
to her violated honour. Nay more, the 
simple expressson of nature on the part of 
a slave as he witnessed the ruin of his 
wife, his mother, or his daughter by any 
of the white fraternity, was legally prohi- 
bited, and an attempt to protect them might 
be punishable with death. Thus, as they 
had no protection in their domestic inter- 



course, so neither had they any security 
in their sympathies and sorrows. They 
were subject to punishment at all times, 
which was inflicted by various legalized 
instruments of torture, by the common 
stocks, the thumb-screw, the field stocks, 
the iron collar, the yoke, the block and 
tackle, and the cart-whip. 

For running away from severe usage, a 
slave was deemed rebellious, and might be 
mutilated. Acts for which a white man 
would be only imprisoned were deemed 
capital crimes in a slave. If any event 
transpired which could be construed into 
an insurrection, these poor creatures were 
shot like wild beasts, or hunted down with 
blood-hounds; if they made the least re- 
sistance they were hewn to pieces ; if 
taken, were doomed to banishment or hope- 
less imprisonment. If actually concerned 
in treasonable practices, they were con- 
demned without trial, and expiated their 
crimes by sufferings inflicted with a wan- 
tonness of cruelty never exceeded by the 
most degraded barbarians. 

While however their oppressors, as ca- 
price or passion dictated, could thus inflict 
upon their wretched vassals sufferings al- 
most beyond endurance, a slave who raised 
his hand by nature's instinct for his own 
protection, or struck, or dared to strike, or 
used any violence towards, or compassed 
or imagined, the death of a master or mis- 
tress, was doomed to suffer death without 
benefit of clergy. On the other hand, the 
murder of a slave by a white man was a 
venial offence, and from the inadmissibility 
of slave evidence often escaped punish- 
ment altogether. The slave was therefore 
entirely unprotected from the tyranny of 
his master, nor could he be a party in any 
civil action, either as plaintiff, defendant, 
informant, or prosecutor, against any per ~ 
son of free condition. Thus he was pro- 
tected only as an inferior animal. Should 
he be maimed by a free person, the damage 
would not be awarded to him, but to his 
master. Even the natural right of self- 
defence was denied to a slave. Notwith- 
standing, however, his exclusion from the 
protection of the law, he was liable to its 
restraints, and thus underwent the miseries 
of a beast of burden without enjoying its 
immunities. Such was the penal code to 
which the slaves were subjected. The 
manner in which they were tried was, if 
possible, still more disgraceful and op- 



ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 



65 



pressive. On charges which did not 
affect their lives, it was competent for a 
single justice, or for two at most, to de- 
cide. 

The little huts in which they resided, 
lowly though they were, yet being of their 
own ejecting, the rural spots which they 
k had cultivated around them, and the trees 
>y which they were embosomed, planted 
by their own hands, and beneath the shade 
of which they had so often rested from 
their toils, and especially the circumstance 
that these spots were hallowed by the tombs 
of their friends and kindred, would natu- 
rally beget local attachments of -a most 
powerful, and almost superstitious charac- 
ter. But from these spots, thus hallowed 
by affection, thus endeared by all the feel- 
ings which constitute home, and perhaps 
the only objects that ever awakened the 
tenderness of their hearts, they were liable 
to be torn away for ever, and with it, from 
their wives, their children, and all the com- 
panions of their youth, torn away either 
at the caprice of their master, or in execu- 
tion for his debts — sold by auction to the 
highest bidder, and carried into a strange 
and unknown neighbourhood. 

" Numerous and cruel though the op- 
pressions are, by which the poor negroes 
are degraded, tormented, and destroyed," 
says Mr. Stephen, " there are two which 
I have regarded as by far the worst, not 
only because the most general and afflic- 
tive, but because they give birth, and viru- 
lence, and tenacity to almost all the rest — 
I mean the truly enormous amount of field- 
labour to which the negroes are coerced, 
and the almost incredible degree of parsi- 
mony with which they are maintained." 
Their labour, under the fervent heat of a 
tropical sun, was indeed cruelly execessive, 
sufficient, during a comparatively short 
period of time, to expend the vigour and 
exhaust the spirits of the strongest and 
most energetic frame, inasmuch as they 
had to perform by manual operation those 
processes which, in every other country, 
are performed by horses, oxen, and ma- 
chinery. In thousands of instances did 
it induce exhaustion and weakness, sick- 
ness, and premature death, facts of which 
no question can be entertained, it having 
been proved to a demonstration that the 
destruction of human life in those islands 
where sugar is most cultivated has been 
going on at a rate which, were it generally 



to prevail, would depopulate the earth in 
half a century.* 

And for all these wearisome labours they 
received no wages ; their toil was purely 
unrequited — unrequited not merely in a 
pecuniary sense, but frequently as it re- 
spected lodging, clothing, and food. Nor 
from their wretched condition was there 
any prospect of deliverance. The better 
their behaviour the more likely were they 
to be detained in bondage. No legal faci- 
lities were afforded by which they might 
be enabled to purchase their freedom, even 
if they possessed the means ; on the con- 
trary, the law actually interfered to pre- 
vent masters, who might be thus inclined, 
from giving them their liberty. They would 
have had one solace, had this dreary doom 
been only their own ; but it was not. It 
was hereditary. Slavery seemed to be a 
taint in the blood which no length of time, 
no change of relationship, could obliterate; 
it was entailed on the posterity of the slave 
to the remotest period. Their children 
and their children's children, through each 
successive generation, were heirs of the 
same inheritance. 

But there is still another light in which 
the condition of the negro must be viewed. 
Not only were their bodily sufferings al- 
most beyond endurance — not only were 
they consigned by thousands to a prema- 
ture grave, and given over to dreary, hope- 
less, and hereditary bondage, but their 
cruel task-masters carefully excluded them 
from all opportunities of Divine worship, 
and thus interposed their power between 
them and their Creator, as though deter- 
mined to retain them in ignorance of the 
gospel, as the only effectual means of per- 
petuating the existence of their inhuman 
system. Thus, as clearly expressed in 
the Consolidated Slave Act of 1816, they 
were not permitted to attend a place of 
worship, or to engage in religious duties 
in their own habitation, without a special 
license from the magistrates. And for the 
crime of worshipping God without their 
masters' permission they were ever liable 
to punishment. 

" O for the day when slavery shall not be 

Where England rules, but all her sons be free;. 

When Western India, and Mauritia's isle, 

Loosed from their bands, shall learn at length to smile; 

When colour shall no longer man degrade, 

And Christ by all shall be alike obey'd." 



* See Sir Fowell Buxton's admirable work on the 
Slave Trade. 



66 



JAMAICA : 



Section II. — This state of things con- 
tinued until the year 1814, a year dis- 
tinguished by the pledge given for the abo- 
lition of the traffic by the representatives 
of the great powers of Europe at the Con- 
gress of Vienna, which led to discussions 
in the British Parliament on the subject of 
slavery as it existed in the colonies. At 
the same time awful disclosures were con- 
tinually being made by the African Asso- 
ciation, a society formed on the 14th of 
June, 1807, by the great philanthropists of 
the day, Clarkson, Wilberfbrce, Brougham, 
Stephen, Macaulay, Buxton, Allen and 
others, for the promotion of the general in- 
terests of the African race, and of which 
his Royal Highness the Duke of Glouces- 
ter was president. Missionaries of different 
denominations becoming more numerous, 
more familiar with the atrocities of the 
system, and less able to submit to the pru- 
dential restraints enjoined upon them by 
the societies to which they belonged, added 
their testimony as eye-witnesses to the 
mass of evidence already before the public, 
and the sympaties of the country were 
again powerfully excited. Mr. Wilberforce, 
now greatly enfeebled, was succeeded, as 
the great parliamentary champion of the 
African race, by Thomas Fowell Buxton, 
Esq., who, like his predecessor, with a 
heart deeply imbued with philanthropic 
feelings, and unappalled by the difficulties 
and obloquy which stared him in the face, 
in March, 1823, brought forward a resolu- 
tion in the House of Commons, " declaring 
that slavery was repugnant to the princi- 
ples of the British Constitution and of the 
Christian religion, and that it ought to be 
gradually abolished throughout the British 
dominions." It was intended that this re- 
solution should be at once succeeded by 
ameliorative measures ; and though the 
motion was rejected by the House, yet the 
feelings and sentiments of the nation were 
not to be disregarded ; and to allay the 
general excitement, one of a similar, 
though less comprehensive kind, was sub- 
stituted by Mr. Canning. This was at 
length adopted, and recommended to the 
consideration of the Colonial Legislature. 
It was received by them with indignation, 
and finally rejected with contempt and 
scorn. Ebullitions of feeling against the 
missionaries of different denominations, but 
against the Baptists missionaries in particu- 
lar, were now more violent than ever. 



They were denounced, both by the white 
portion of the populace, by the press (long 
the vehicle of malignant and vulgar defama- 
tion), and by the Colonial Legislature, as 
being in league with the Anti-Slavery So- 
ciety, by whom the Government was in- 
stigated to effect their ruin. In common 
with missionaries of other denominations, 
they were frequently cited before Commit- 
tees of the House of Assembly for the most 
contemptible of purposes — harassed with 
warrants for not serving in the militia, cir- 
cumscribed and impeded in their benevo- 
lent efforts by oppressive laws, and treated 
with all the indignity and virulence which 
prejudice and mortified tyranny could dic- 
tate. In Barbadoes and Demerara these 
feelings, no longer capable of control, were 
vented in the demolition of a Wesleyan 
chapel, accompanied by other outrages, 
which were consummated by the murder of 
the missionary Smith. 

These grievances, with the means adopt- 
ed for their redress, together with the 
factious opposition of the colonists to the 
reasonable requisitions of the Government, 
served to diffuse still more widely a know- 
ledge of the evils of the existing system, 
and had the effect of uniting all classes and 
societies of professing Christians in a 
prompt and determined effort for remedial 
measures. The Anti-Slavery Society was 
more than ever diligent in the diffusion of 
its publications — lecturers were appointed 
to traverse the country to inform more 
generally the public mind — the pulpit lent 
its aid to the same great object, as the re- 
sult of which, petitions from all parts of 
the land poured into both houses of Parlia- 
ment in such numbers that the appeals 
could no longer be withstood. The Colo- 
nial Legislature was requested by Lord 
Goderich, in 1831, to reconsider the de- 
spatches of Earl Bathurst in 1823. The 
recommendation was again treated with 
general contempt, while the most inflam- 
matory speeches were made throughout 
the country, both in public and private, 
against the missionaries and the British 
Government, accompanied by menaces of 
rebellion on the part of the white inhabi- 
tants against the parent state, and a trans- 
fer of their allegiance to America. In one 
intance they were accompanied by an act 
of lawless violence, connected with the 
Wesleyan missionary and chapel, at St. 
Anne's Bay. At night, while the white 



ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 



67 



company of the militia was on guard, the 
house of the Rev. Mr. RatclifFe, in which 
he, his wife, and children resided, was 
violently attacked by a party armed with 
fire-arms, who, without the slightest pro- 
vocation, lodged fourteen bullets within the 
walls. This occurred in December, 1826, 
and was brought before the House of Com- 
mons in the month of March following by 
Dr. Lushington. These circumstances had 
the effect of exciting the suspicions of the 
negroes that freedom bad been granted 
them by the King, but that it was withheld 
by their masters, which led to the resolu- 
tion on the part of some of the slaves in the 
parishes of St. James and Trelawney, to 
test the truth of the report by a refusal to 
work after the Christmas holidays, except 
for wages as freemen. Among the leaders 
and others in this movement were found 
individuals connected with the Baptist and 
other churches in the parish of St. James ; 
no sooner however was this known to the 
missionaries on the spot than they exerted 
themselves to the utmost to undeceive the 
misguided multitude. This object it is pro- 
bable they might have accomplished, but 
for the measures that were instantly adopt- 
ed by the authorities. Martial law was 
proclaimed, and the militia, composed 
chiefly of the planters in the districts, exas- 
perated to the direst revenge, commenced 
hostilities. Retaliation was provoked, and 
the most wanton and horrible cruelties per- 
petrated by the whites, accompanied by 
outrages on the Baptist missionaries, and 
the destruction of the Baptist and Wesleyan 
chapels in the neighbourhood. These atro- 
cities were sanctioned, and even abetted, 
with but one or two exceptions, by the 
magistrates and other local authorities, who 
at length committed the missionaries to 
prison on suspicion of their having instigat- 
ed the " rebellion." This suspicion was 
magnified into a charge, and they were 
tried for their lives. The vilest and most 
despicable means which diabolical malice 
and depraved prejudice could devise were 
employed to fix the guilt of this charge 
upon them, but not a single accusation 
could be substantiated. The principal suf- 
ferers in these shameful outrages, whose 
hardships and indignities were almost in- 
describable, were Messrs. Gardner, Bur- 
chell, Knibb, Abbott, Whitehorn, Baylis, 
Kingdon, Taylor, and Barlow, Baptists ; 
and Messrs. Bleby and Box, Wesleyans. 



But for the high patronage which they en- 
joyed, it is probable that both the Presby- 
terian missionaries and the Evangelical 
clergy would equally have shared in these 
disgraceful outrages. 

" Usually the best friends of mankind," 
says a quaint writer, " those who most 
heartily wish the peace and prosperity of 
the world, and most earnestly strive to pro- 
mote them, have all the disturbances and 
disasters happening charged on them by 
those fiery vixens who really do themselves 
embroil things, and raise combustions in the 
world." So in the present case. 

Fourteen chapels were destroyed belong- 
ing to the Baptist Missionary Society, with 
private houses and other property, amount- 
ing to 23,250/.* Six chapels belonging to 



* The following letters, which the author, who was 
then in England, received from his esteemed mission- 
ary brethren, the Rev. J. Clarke and H. C. Taylor, 
who were supplying his church in his absence, will 
illustrate the spirit by which these caluminated mis- 
sionaries were actuated, as well as the dangers which 
surrounded them. 

After stating that the rebellion was a contest carried 
on by wicked men for the perpetuation of slavery, 
Brother C. continues — " It is consoling to think that 
God will maintain his cause, and in his own time 
turn the councils of the wicked into foolishness. Our 
trust is in him : and daily we appear in his house to 
present our supplications at his throne of mercy in 
the name of our adorable Redeemer — and we know 
that we are regarded. For many weeks past we have 
kept a regular watch to protect the chapel, as we had 
good evidence that many wicked men had united in 
order to pull it down. 

" Three persons, not connected with us, came for- 
ward and made affidavits, certifying that they had 

been invited by a Mr. to join in this evil work. 

The case was represented at the Peace Office, and 
Mr. H. was bound over to keep the peace. But we 
are far from being secure, as prejudice still runs ex- 
ceedingly high, and those in power are quite as bad 
as others. 

" What a fearful tale will soon be told you, and is 
now being told of Jamaica ! What will be the conse- 
quences we cannot tell. Many a night have we lain 
down in your house in Spanish Town, expecting to 
be aroused before morning to attempt to prevent the 
destruction of the premises. Blessed be God! all is 
yet safe ; and we trust he will restrain the violence of 
wicked men, and overrule all past evils for the glory 
of his own great and holy name." — August 11, 1832. 

" Things are still unsettled," says Mr. T.; " the ne- 
groes do not fight, but fire places, and retire to the 
woods and hills. If reports are true, I by no means 
consider myself safe ; and I think it not very unlikely 
but that one or more of the ministers of religion will 
be sacrificed. The whites are thirsting for our blood. 
All is quiet, I am happy to say, on the south side of 
the island, so far as regards the slaves ; but as to the 
whites, they are striving with all their might to breed 
disturbances, by pulling down class-houses, threaten- 
ing the missionaries, and punishing the slaves for 
praying. I was on Monday had up to the Peace Of- 
fice. Three affidavits were sworn to against me for 
seditious preaching, but as the affidavits were contra- 
dictory of each other, the object of the parties was 
defeated. On the following Sabbath one of these ia- 



68 



JAMAICA : 



the Wesleyans were demolished, with a 
total loss of 60007. in property. To carry 
out a project long cherished and threaten- 
ed for expelling all the dissenting mission- 
aries from the island, and which it is sus- 
pected was the real origin of the insurrec- 
tion, a Colonial Church Union was formed, 
and a system of persecution continued, un- 
paralleled in the history of modern times. 
Meanwhile Mr. Knibb of the Baptist Mis- 
sionary Society, and Messrs. Duncan and 
Barry, of the Wesleyan body, sailed for 
England, followed by Mr. Burchell, whose 
united statements and appeals, accom- 
panied and sustained by the evidence fur- 
nished by themselves and others to both 
houses of parliament, on the subject of 
slavery in general, excited, to a degree 
hitherto unparalleled, the indignation of the 
British people, and the thought of ameliora- 
tive measures was lost in the determination, 
that slavery itself should cease. Not con- 
tent with inflicting sufferings almost beyond 
endurance upon the bodies of his wretched 
vassals, and consigning them to a prema- 
ture grave, the monster had now lifted up 
his palsied hand and attempted to interpose 
his malignant power between his victims 
and their Creator, as the only means of 
perpetuating his own existence. This was 
to wage war with Omnipotence, and his 
doom was sealed. 

Christians of every denomination, pa- 
triots and philanthropists of every rank 
and name, simultaneously arose and pe- 
titioned with united voice and with a firm- 



formers came again, thinking, probably, I should no- 
tice the Peace Office business, but I made no allusion 
to it whatever, determining, as I have ever done, to 
aim at winning souls. I therefore chose for my text 
— ' Except ye repent,' &c. 

" The chapel was very full ; several white people 
were there whom I never saw before. This day poor 
Brother Nichols and his wife came from St. Anne's 
Bay. A set of ruffians entered the chapel there by 
force on the Friday night about ten o'clock. They 
beat out the windows, and threw out the benches. 
Brother N. called out murder, and the depredators 
ran away. 

" Things are now more alarming. You have heard 
of the destruction of the chapels on the north side, 
but the Governor issued a Proclamation against it. 
This destruction of the chapels occurred when mar- 
tial law had ceased, not by the blacks, but by the 
whites ; who therefore are the rebels now ? 

" Troopers were about all last night. We go this 
morning to the Custos to know what is to be done. 
There is a rumour now abroad of a conspiracy to 
burn down all the chapels in Kingston and Spanish 
Town. Our people were guarding ours all last night ; 
the women, especially, are determined to defend it to 
the last. Several of our missionary brethren, with 
their wives, have fled hither for refuge," 



ness and determination not to be resisted 
or delayed, that liberty, immediate and un- 
conditional, the birth-right of every man, 
should be at once enjoyed by Africans and 
their descendants, throughout the British 
dominions, equally with other subjects of 
the realm. 



Section III. — The great cause, as it 
might be supposed, was espoused by the 
reformed parliament under Earl Grey, 
which assembled May the 14th, 1833, and 
was brought forward by Lord Stanley, 
then Secretary for the Colonies. The re- 
sult was the substitution of an apprentice- 
ship system during a period of twelve 
years, afterwards reduced to six years, 
with a compensation of twenty millions as 
an indemnity to the planters. This boon 
was hailed by the slaves and by their 
friends, both in England and the colonies, 
with the greatest public demonstrations of 

joy- 

The following is the substance of the 
Act introduced by Lord Stanley, and 
which passed the British parliament on 
this memorable occasion, one of the bright- 
est that stands upon the statute-book of 
English law and English freedom, the 
Magna Charta of negro rights : — 

" Be it enacted, that all and every one 
of the persons who on the first day of Au- 
gust, one thousand eight hundred and 
thirty-four, shall be holden in slavery 
within any such British colony as afore- 
said, shall, upon and from and after the 
said first day of August, one thousand 
eight hundred and thirty-four, become and 
be to all intents and purposes free, and dis- 
charged of and from all manner of slavery, 
and shall be absolutely and for ever manu- 
mitted ; and that the children thereafter 
born to any such persons, and the offspring 
of such children, shall in like manner be 
free from their birth ; and that from and 
after the first day of August, one thousand 
eight hundred and thirty-four, slavery 
shall be and is hereby utterly and for ever 
abolished and declared unlawful through- 
out the British colonies, plantations, and 
possessions abroad." 

In the meantime the Earl of Belmore, 
during whose administration these dis- 
graceful outrages occurred, was recalled, 
and the Earl of Mulgrave succeeded as 
Governor. By a happy combination of 



ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 



wisdom, firmness and energy, added to 
liberal and enlightened views, his Excel- 
lency, now the Marquis of Normanby, re- 
stored tranquillity to the distracted commu- 
nity, and induced the legislature to accede 
to the proposals of the parent state. After 
nearly two years of almost ceaseless effort 
and annoyance his Excellency relinquished 
the government, a step to which he was 
urged by personal and relative affliction. 
The Marquis of Sligo was now appointed 
to see this great measure carried into 
effect, a duty which he nobly performed. 
And when at length the memorable day 
arrived on which this boon was to be be- 
stowed, it was welcomed and celebrated 
throughout the island with high and holy 
joy — welcomed and celebrated not only 
for the immediate blessings which followed 
in its train, but as the dawn of temporal 
liberty to the world, and the harbinger to 
the degraded sons of Africa of 

" A liberty 
Which monarchs cannot grant, nor all the pow'rs 
Of earth and hell confederate take away, 
Which whoso tastes can be enslaved no more — 
The liberty of heart derived from heaven." 

Man now ceased to be the property of man. 
The former slaves were now to labour, not 
at the caprice of an absolute owner, en- 
forced by the whip of an arbitrary and 
irresponsible task-master, but by settled 
rules. They were now to be under the 
influence of known and settled laws, admi- 
nistered by special and duly appointed 
magistrates, on sufficient evidence in open 
courts — their evidence was now received 
in a court of justice — they were admitted 
to a participation of civil privileges with 
freemen — they could rear their own chil- 
dren, and dispose of their own property : 
but this was all. They had not yet the 
right of self-disposal and self-management 
— not yet the privilege of selecting their 
own employments, or of choosing their 
own masters : and, as it is unreasonable to 
suppose that the faults of years were to be 
eradicated in a day, or the tyranny of the 
passions to be crushed in an hour — that 
the man who had treated the slave as a 
brute would regard him as a man and a 
brother from the simple act of manumis- 
sion, the humane and well-intentioned pro- 
visions of the Act were evaded and neu- 
tralized by local enactments and by partial 
and vicious adjudication. While, however, 
it is confessed that the system was less 



harsh and revolting than actual slavery in 
some of its features, it was far from being 
so in others. It was only a modification 
of slavery — a substitution of half measures 
for the whole: and hence it not only failed 
to accomplish the end designed, but in 
some respects was made an occasion of 
greater oppression than slavery itself — it 
was slavery disguised : " and disguise 
thyself as thou wilt, still, slavery, still thou 
art a bitter draught." During the short 
period of two years, 60,000 apprentices 
received, in the aggregate, one-quarter of 
a million of lashes, and 50,000 other 
punishments by the tread-wheel, the chain- 
gang, and other means of legalized tor- 
ture ; so that, instead of a diminution, 
there was a frightful addition to the mise- 
ries of the negro population, inducing a 
degree of discontent and exasperation 
among them never manifested under the 
previous system ; and which, but for the 
influence exerted by the Governor, the 
missionaries, and some of the special ma- 
gistrates, would, in all probability, have 
broken out into open and general rebellion. 
It was, in a word, a scheme fraught with 
greater difficulties in its operation than can 
be conceived. It was expensive, partial, 
criminal, and altogether useless — of no 
avail but for the purposes of dissension, 
strife and anarchy — " Nam timor eventus 
deterioris abest." It was unsatisfactory to 
all parties, and beneficial to none. In ad- 
dition to the evils it entailed on those more 
immediately concerned in its operation, it 
was a source of the most unparalleled diffi- 
culty, labour, and obloquy, to the noble- 
minded individuals under whose eventful 
and successive administrations it was car- 
ried on.* It was defective as a system 
abstractedly considered ; and it had, in ad- 
dition, to contend against obstacles insepa- 
rable from inveterate custom, and morally 
insurmountable. 

It therefore failed — and failed signally. 
It was obnoxious to the master — hateful to 



* "The whipping of females, you were informed 
by me, officially, was in practice; and I called upon 
you to make enactments to put an end to conduct so 
repugnant to humanity, and so contrary to law. So 
far from passing an Act to prevent the recurrence of 
such cruelty, you have in no way expressed your dis- 
approbation of it. I communicated to you my opinion, 
and that of the Secretary of State, of the injustice of 
the cutting off the hair of females in the House of 
Correction, previous to trial. You have paid no at- 
tention to the subject." — Speech of the Marquis of 
Sligo to the Jamaica Mouse of Assembly. 



70 



JAMAICA: 



the slave — and perplexing to the special 
magistrates. Placed, as these latter indi- 
viduals were, almost entirely at the mercy 
of the planters, few had the moral courage 
or the moral principle to withstand the 
consequences of a faithful and conscien- 
tious discharge of their duty. Among the 
few whom no bribes could seduce, and no 
threats intimidate — some resigned their 
office in disgust — others sunk beneath the 
pressure of excessive labour, anxiety, and 
persecution. Of those that survive, the 
names of Hill, Palmer, Maddan, Daugh- 
trey, Baynes, Grant, Bourne, and Kent, 
will be distinguished and cherished by the 
great mass of the inhabitants to the latest 
posterity. Slavery ivitt admit of no mo- 
dification. Under these circumstances, 
representations as to the nature and effects 
of the Apprenticeship System were soon 
made by the Baptist Missionaries ;* by the 
philanthropic Joseph Sturge and Thomas 
Harvey, who personally acquainted them- 
selves with its results; and successively 
by the noble-minded Governors, the Mar- 
quis of Sligoj" and Sir Lionel Smith ; and 
truth and justice for the last time stood 
forth and demanded the fulfillment of their 
claims. Within the short space of about 
six months, deputations, varying in num- 
ber from 140 to 400, assembled in London 
from different parts of the three kingdoms ; 
Downing-streetand Westminster Hall were 
again besieged ; and petitions, signed by 
upwards of one million of British subjects, 
in which 450,000 English, 135,000 Scotch, 
and upwards of 77,000 Irish females — a 
mighty host, marshalled and led on by the 
piety, talent, learning, eloquence, and phi- 
lanthropy of the best portion of the public 



* The following is a specimen of the language used 
towards the missionaries at this period by some of 
the members of the Honourable Plouse of Assembly. 

It was used by the Hon. A ^~^~ ' n a debate on 

a bill to legalize marriages by disslfeting ministers. — 
" The report of a committee appointed to inquire 
into the working of the Apprenticeship System 
would that day be presented, by which it would be 
clearly shown that the evil which now prevailed — 
that the non-working of the Apprenticeship System, 
indeed all the mischief of the present day — was to be 
attributed to the interference of the sectarian preach- 
ers ; they were a set of lawless miscreants in whom 
no faith was to be placed, from whom no security 
could be obtained. They had no reputation to lose, 
or character to give weight to their evidence in a 
court of justice." 

t The Marquis of Sligo, who is a large proprietor 
in Jamaica, nobly confirmed his sentiments by libera- 
ting all his apprentices before the act of final eman- 
cipation was carried, which had great influence on 
the abandonment of the system. 



press* — imperatively demanded the aboli- 
tion of the System on the ground of a vio- 
lation of the contract by the planters. For 
a time the boon was delayed, and the Bri- 
tish Lion was provoked to anger : he put 
forth his might, and the monster Slavery 
was no more. 



Section IV. — At length the advocates 
of liberty and the champions of the op- 
pressed reaped the glorious reward of their 
self-denying and philanthropic labours. On 
the glorious and never-to-be-forgotten 1st 
of August, 1838, 800,000 African bond- 
men were made fully and unconditionally 
free. " An act of legislation the most mag- 
nanimous and sublime in the annals of the 
world, and which will be the glory of Eng- 
land and the admiration of posterity, when 
her proudest military and naval achieve- 
ments shall have faded from the recollec- 
tions of mankind ;" an event which trans- 
pired at the most auspicious period of the 
history of the world — at a time of the most 
profound and general peace ever enjoyed 
since Augustus Ca?sar shut the gates of 
Janus — when the crown of the mightiest 
empire of the world had just been placed 
on the youthful brow of Victoria, the be- 
loved mistress of a free people. 

When a century shall have passed away 
— when statesmen are forgotten — when rea- 
son shall regain her influence over preju- 
dice and interest, and other generations are 
wondering at the false estimate their fore- 
fathers formed of human glory — " on the 
page of history one deed shall stand out in 
whole relief — one consenting voice pro- 
nounce" that the greatest honour England 
ever attained was when, with her Sovereign 
at her head, she proclaimed the slave is 
free, and established in practice what 
even America recognises in theory: that 
all men are created equal — that they are 
endoiced by their Creator ivith certain 
tmalienable rights — that among these are 
life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. 

On the evening of the day preceding 
that which witnessed the actual bestowment 
of the inestimable boon on the apprentices 
of Jamaica, the towns and missionary sta- 

* Very valuable assistance was especially given on 
this occasion in London by " The Sun," " The Globe," 
" The Patriot," " The Morning^Herald," and the diffe- 
rent religious periodicals, and seconded by a large por- 
tion of the provincial press, as well as by that of Ire- 
land and Scotland. 



ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 



71 



tions throughout the island were crowded 
with people especially interested in the 
event, and who, filling the different places 
of worship, remained in some instances 
performing different acts of devotion until 
the day of liberty dawned, when they 
saluted it with the most joyous acclaim ; 
others, before and after similar services, 
dispersed themselves in different directions 
through the towns and villages singing the 
national anthem and devotional hymns, 
occasionally rending the air with their ac- 
clamations of "Freedom's come;" " We're 
free, we're free; our wives and our chil- 
dren are free." On the following day the 
places of worship were thrown open, and 
crowded almost to suffocation; in many 
instances even the whole premises of a 
missionary establishment were occupied. 
Sermons were preached applicable to the 
event, devout thanksgivings to Almighty 
God at the throne of grace, mingled with 
songs of praise, ascended up to Heaven 
from every part of the land. The scenes 
presented exceeded all description. The 
whole island exhibited a state of joyous ex- 
citement as though miraculously chastened 
and regulated by the hallowed influences 
of religion.* 

After the services of the day at Spanish 
Town, which were deeply interesting, the 
congregation collected in and about the 
Baptist Chapel, numbering full 7000 souls, 
were to be addressed by his Excellency 
the Governor. These, with the children 
of the schools, which amounted to 2000, 
accordingly walked in procession to the 
square opposite the Government House, 
headed by their pastor, displaying flags and 
banners, which bore a variety of interesting 
inscriptions. Although joy brightened every 
countenance, the procession moved on with 
all the apparent solemnity of a funeral, and 
in a few minutes after it made its appear- 
ance, his Excellency the Governor, sur- 
rounded by the bishop, his honour the 
Chief Justice, and other high official func- 
tionaries, addressed the immense mass of 
apprentices thus congregated, in a speech 
characterized by much simplicity, affection, 
and energy. During the delivery of the 
speech, his Excellency was greeted by 
reiterated and enthusiastic cheering, being 

* Even the irreligious part of the community on 
this memorable occasion seemed inspired with re- 
ligious feeling, and flocked in crowds to the House of 
God. 



regarded by the people as their friend and 
benefactor. After about an hour, the mass 
having given three cheers for the Queen 
and three for Sir Lionel, followed their 
pastor to the Baptist mission premises, 
cheering him in the most enthusiastic 
manner. 

Arrived in the immediate neighbourhood 
of the chapel, the multitude surrounded him, 
grasped him in their arms, and bore him, 
in the midst of shouts and caresses, into 
his house. The enthusiasm of the mul- 
titude being now wound up to the highest 
pitch, they declared themselves unwilling 
to separate without greeting the different 
flags. The flags and banners were accord- 
ingly unfurled, and for nearly an hour the 
air rang with the shouts of exultation that 
were thus poured forth from thousands of 
joyous hearts. 

The school-children had remained be- 
hind to sing several airs before the Govern- 
ment house, and just as the mass were 
cheering the last banner, upon which was 
inscribed in large capitals, " We are free! 
we are free ! our wives and our children 
are free!" they all entered, and, adding their 
shrill voices to the rest, raised a shout that 
seemed to rend the air. Over the two prin- 
cipal entrances to the chapel were three 
triumphal arches, decorated with leaves 
and flowers, and crowned with flags, bear- 
ing the several inscriptions of " Freedom's 
come," " Slavery is no more," " Thy 
chains are broken, Africa is free;" while 
in addition to these, and the flags and ban- 
ners borne by the procession, one was seen 
waving from the cupola of the metropolitan 
school-rooms,* bearing " the 1st of August, 
1838," ornamented by a painted wreath of 
laurel. The bethel flag floated over the 
chapel, and the Union Jack over the minis- 
ter's house, which is situated in the mid- 
dle of the two. 



ORDER OF PROCESSION. 

Teacher of the Sunday-School, with Union Jack. 

Master of Metropolitan Day-School — Mr. Kirby. 

Superintendent of Sabbath-School, Wm. Groom, Esq. 

Children and Teachers, 

bearing at regular intervals flags and banners with the 

subjoined devices, 

" Education, social order, and religion." 

" Wisdom and knowledge the stability of the times." 

" Knowledge is power." 

" Peace, industry, and commerce." 

"Freedom's bright day hath dawned at last." 

The Pastor. 

Deacons of the Church. 



Connected with the Mission premises, 



72 



JAMAICA : 



10. 



11. 

12. 



Two silk flags — " Glory to God," " The slave is free." 

Singers. 

Two silk flags — " Victoria," " Sir Lionel Smith." 

JVlass of about 500 persons. 

Large banner borne by four — " 1st August, 183S." 

Mass of about 500. 

Twosilkflags, "EarlofMulgrave," "Marquis of Sligo." 

Mass of about 500. 

Three silk flags — " Sturge," " Brougham," " Liberty." 

Mass of about 500. 

Flags with the following inscriptions 
were distributed variously throughout the 
remaining part of the procession : 

1. " Am I not a man and a brother ?" 

2. "The day of our freedom." 

3. "England, land of liberty, of light, of life." 

4. " Ethiopia bends her knee to God and gives him 

glory." 

5. " Freedom shall henceforth for ever be enjoyed 

throughout the British empire." 

6. " Equal rights and privileges." 

7. " Philanthropy, patriotism, and religion, have, 

under God, achieved for us this glorious tri- 
umph.'' 

8. "Emancipation in peace, in harmony, in safety, 

and acquiescence, on all sides." 

9. " Truth, justice, and right have at length pre- 

vailed." 

'Let strife and conflict from these lands be 
driven, 
And men and masters fill the path to heaven." 

1 May the cause of mercy triumph in both hemi- 
spheres." 

■ The 1st of August, 1838, never to be forgotten 
through all generations." 

On the evening of the following day a 
charitable bazaar was opened at the 
metropolitan school-rooms, which were 
most beautifully illuminated and adorned 
by characteristic transparencies. His Ex- 
cellency the Governor and suite were 
present; his honour the Chief Justice and 
lady, several members of the Council and 
House of Assembly, several military offi- 
cers, and most of the respectable and influ- 
ential inhabitants of the town and neigh- 
bourhood. " Altogether the number of 
visiters and persons assembled could not," 
says a respectable spectator, " have been 
less than 4000." Several rural fetes were 
held on different estates in the same parish 
in commemoration of the event, attended 
also in some instances by his Excellency 
the Governor and suite, and in all cases by 
proprietors or their representatives, as also 
by magistrates and other respectable por- 
tions of the community. Of these, it may 
not be uninteresting to afford the following 
specimen which occurred at the Farm Pen, 
the property of Lord Carrington, and which 
united the peasantry of that nobleman and 
Lord Seaford. 

From previous reports, and the general 
belief that his Excellency the Governor 



and suile would honour the entertainment 
with their presence, considerable interest 
was created throughout the neighbourhood. 
As soon as his Excellency and aide-de- 
camp arrived within a few hundred yards 
of the scene of conviviality, his Excellen- 
cy's horses were instantaneously detached 
from the carriage, and replaced by some of 
the most athletic young men of the two 
properties, who drew it along at full speed, 
amidst the waving of banners and the 
deafening cheers of the people. His Excel - 
lency was then conducted to a kind of rus- 
tic saloon prepared for the occasion, where 
he was received by the Honourable Joseph 
Gordon, the attorney of the estate. The 
tables were stretched along a beautiful lawn 
between the great house and the negro 
village, and were enclosed in their whole 
extent, which could not have been less than 
200 feet, by a beautiful and highly-finished 
fabric of evergreens, adorned with chaplets 
and festoons of flowers. The exterior pre- 
sented to the eye, at a distance, the ap- 
pearance of a spacious arcade in the Gothic 
style — the graceful cocoa-nut branch taste- 
fully woven, forming the numerous arches 
and columns. The inside was fitted up in 
a style still more chaste and elegant, being, 
in addition to the ornaments culled from 
Nature's garden, supplied with various 
articles of household furniture, and adorned 
with flags of different colours, on which 
were inscribed the names of the illustrious 
living characters who, under God, had 
achieved the glorious triumph they were 
met to celebrate. 

Every thing being announced as ready, 
the company, numbering about 300, ad- 
vanced to the repast. The minister then 
invoked the divine blessing upon it in the 
verse beginning with — 

" Be present at our table, Lord," 

which was sung by the assembly with such 
a becoming seriousness as gave a tone to 
the whole proceedings of the evening. The 
Honourable Joseph Gorden presided. On 
his right was seated his Excellency the 
Governor. The other guests were vari- 
ously distributed around, among whom ap- 
peared several ladies and gentlemen of the 
first respectability. 

The tables were very tastefully laid out, 
the necessary apparatus having been kind- 
ly lent by different respectable inhabitants 
in the neighbourhood, and the viands, 



ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 



73 



which were partially supplied in the same 
manner, were abundant and of excellent 
quality. The appetite at length subdaed, 
the whole company rose and gave thanks 
by singing — 

"Praise God from whom all blessings flow." 

Although scarcely any intoxicating drinks 
were used, it was natural on such an occa- 
sion that toasts should be given. The pre- 
sident accordingly gave the health of Her 
Majesty the Queen ; this was responded to 
with rapturous applause, and was succeed- 
ed by a verse of the national anthem, which 
was sung with great effect. The health of 
Sir Lionel Smith, as the representative of 
Her Majesty, followed, and the words, "to 
the health of our excellent Governor" were 
« no sooner pronounced than one simultane- 
ous and enthusiastic shout of applause 
burst forth from the assembled multitude. 
The choir again struck up — 

" Joy, for every yoke is broken, 
And the oppressed all go free, 
Let us hail it as a token 
That our much loved land may be 
Blessed of the Lord most high, 
Ruler of the earth and sky. 

"In blest communion may we all 
Keep holy freedom's festival; 
Let shades of difference be forgot, 
Parties and sects remembered not, 
While Christians all with joy agree 
To keep the Negro Jubilee." 

His Excellency returned thanks in a 
very excellent and appropriate speech, ex- 
pressing his confident hope of the future 
prosperity of the country as the result of 
the late glorious event, and exhorting both 
masters and servants to the cultivation of 
feelings of mutual confidence and good 
will, as the best means of securing it. It 
would convey but an inadequate idea of 
the reality to say that the advice was ap- 
preciated. It was responded to by accla- 
mation, amidst which his Excellency re- 
tired, highly gratified with everything he 
had heard and seen. 

The late noble-minded and beloved 
Governors, the Earl of Mulgrave and the 
Marquis of Sligo, were remembered with 
equal honour and enthusiasm. 

The head man on the property next 
arose, and in a respectful manner request- 
ed that he might be allowed to propose a 
toast, adding that he was sure it would 
meet with the warmest approbation of all 
present : it was the health, long life, and 
happiness, both in time and eternity, of 

6 



Lords Carrington and Seaford, with that 
also of their esteemed and liberal-minded 
attorney, Joseph Gordon, Esq., a proposi- 
tion that was loudly greeted, as was also 
Mr. Gordon's acknowledgment, both on 
behalf of the two noble Lords and himself. 
The scene was overpowering, and could 
not fail to produce a salutary effect on all 
present. 

This was closed by singing to the tune 
" America" — 

" O Lord, upon Jamaica shine 

With beams of sovereign grace, 
Reveal thy power through all our coasts, 
And show thy smiling face ; 

" Amidst this isle exalted high 
Do thou our glory stand, 
And like a wall of guardian fire 
Surround our favoured land." • 

Feelings of esteem and gratitude were 
expressed towards the minister and his 
family present on the occasion, in which 
the honourable president united, as also 
to the special magistrates of the district, 
who severally expressed their obligations 
in return. Cheers were now given for 
Lord Mulgrave, for Lord Sligo, for Clark- 
son, Wilberforce, Buxton, Brougham, and 
Sturge ; for the ladies of Great Britain and 
Ireland ; for the missionaries and other 
philanthropists in Jamaica, and for the 
friends of liberty throughout the world. 
The meeting then separated, each indivi- 
dual going peacefully and joyfully to his 
home. This was nearly the last of the 
entertainments held in commemoration of 
this glorious event, and it may not be im- 
proper, therefore, to follow the account 
with a few observations. 

The conduct of the newly emancipated 
peasantry throughout the island would have 
done credit to Christians of the most civi- 
lized country in the world. At none of 
their repasts was there anything Baccha- 
nalian. Their behaviour was modest, un- 
assuming, and decorous in a high degree. 
There was no crowding, no vulgar fami- 
liarity ; all were as courteous, civil, and 
obliging to each other as members of one 
harmonious family ; all were also clean 
and neat in their persons and attire. There 
was no dancing, no noisy mirth, no carous- 
ing, no gambling, or any of the rude pas- 
times and sports which often disgrace sea- 
sons of public rejoicing in England ; neither 
did there seem to be the least desire on the 
part of the people so to commemorate the 



74 



JAMAICA 



event. All expressed their sense of the 
obligations under which they were laid to 
a faithful and conscientious discharge of 
the duties they owed to their masters and 
to one another, as well as to the civil au- 
thorities. Ministers of religion were ear- 
nestly invited to preside, or to direct them 
in all their arrangements. God was uni- 
versally recognised as the giver of the 
bounties enjoyed, and from first to last He 
was regarded as the Great Author of their 
deliverance from bondage. Their conduct 
was admitted by every respectable be- 
holder, and even by those who were not in- 
fluenced by the best of motives in mingling 
with the spectators, as unexceptionable. 
The masters, who in many cases were 
present, frankly recognised the new-born 
liberty of their former dependents, and 
congratulated them on the boon they had 
received, while both expressed their de- 
sires that all past differences and wrongs 
might be forgiven. Harmony and cheer- 
fulness smiled on every countenance, and 
the demon of discord for a season disap- 
peared. On some of the properties where 
these commemorative festivals were held, 
the people, with a few individual excep- 
tions, went to work on the following day, 
while many of them presented their first 
week of free labour as an offering of good 
will to their masters. 

Thus, the period from which the worst 
consequences were apprehended, passed 
away in peace, in harmony, and in safety. 
Not a single instance of violence or insub- 
ordination, of serious disagreement or of 
intemperance, so far as could be ascertain- 
ed, occurred in any part of the island. 

Nor was there any interruption, on the 
part of the labourers, to the ordinary cul- 
tivation or business. Commended for their 
past behaviour, encouraged and urged by 
ministers of all denominations to continue 
to exemplify their fitness for the boon they 
had received, as well as to facilitate the 
progress of emancipation in America, in 
the islands that surrounded them, and 
throughout the world, by a continuation 
of industrial habits for reasonable wages, 
the greater part appeared on the different 
properties on the Monday of the following 
week. Most of the estates, from the in- 
creased labour that had been expended on 
them previously, and which had been ob- 
tained at a high price from the apprentice 
in his own time to the neglect of his own 



provision-grounds, were not in immediate 
need of labourers ; and thus, to the aston- 
ishment of the newly-made freemen, their 
offers of service were in some cases reject- 
ed, and they themselves treated with in- 
difference or hauteur. It soon became 
evident that a general determination had 
been formed to take advantage of the feel- 
ings and dispositions thus displayed, and 
render them available to an uncontrollable 
lust of avarice and power. In a word, 
freedom was sought to be made more abun- 
dantly compensative than slavery ; and 
now was the time to make the attempt. 
For this purpose the most oppressive and 
impolitic expedients were adopted. In 
many cases the domestic stock of the pea- 
santry, their provision-grounds, and even 
their houses, were destroyed. In others, 
and which was general, demands were 
made for rent of houses and grounds from 
every inmate of a family, and to an extent 
which more than equalled in a given time 
the amount of wages received by them 
conjointly — exactions which would have 
produced a larger revenue to the proprietor 
than the agricultural products of his estate. 
These and similar acts of oppression were 
justly but temperately resisted. Bickerings 
and heartburnings were the result. The 
planters persisted in their designs ; and at 
length multitudes of the labourers were 
compelled to sacrifice their feelings of at- 
tachment to their domiciles, and to esta- 
blish themselves in their own freeholds. 
Hence, and from no other cause, arose 
those reports of insolence and idleness 
which were so widely and perseveringly 
circulated- against the peasantry. It is 
delightful to add that the injustice and im- 
policy of such conduct have now become 
generally manifest ; so that the causes of 
mutual dissatisfaction are now to a con- 
siderable degree extinct. There are, how- 
ever, some laws, as already noticed, which 
press unfairly on the great mass of the 
people ; but it is hoped that, from motives 
of good policy as well as from good feel- 
ing, they will be speedily annulled. In 
other respects, equal right and liberty are 
enjoyed ; and, with these privileges, peace, 
prosperity, and happiness. 

" Great was the boon, my country, when you gave 
To man his birthright, freedom to the slave, 
Rights to the wronged, and to the glorious rolls 
Of British citizens a million souls — 
Their growing minds from slavery's sink to lift, 
And make them worthy of the God-like gift." . 



ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 



75 



CHAPTER XII. 

INTELLECTUAL CHARACTER OF THE BLACK 
PEOPLE UNDER SLAVERY. 

Ignorance of Arts and Sciences — Of Reading, Arith- 
metic, Mechanical Arts, Civil Polity — Alleged De- 
ficiency of Mental Capacity — Establishment and 
Operation of Schools — The Negro under Cultiva- 
tion and Freedom — Notions of his Natural Inferi- 
ority disproved — Proposal for the establishment of 
a College — The great importance and advantages 
of such an Institution — Decline of Schools — Ap- 
peal for these objects to the British Public. 

The best informed among the slaves 
imported into Jamaica were the Mandin- 
goes, and those of neighbouring nations 
from the banks of the Senegal. Some of 
these, especially the chiefs and princes of 
the tribes, displayed some acquaintance 
with Arabic, but their knowledge of the 
language generally was very superficial. 
Very few had any idea of the art of com- 
putation by figures, nor did the great bulk 
of them display any acquaintance with the 
simplest form of lettered knowledge. Ac- 
cording to a tradition current among them, 
they were under an impression that they 
were prohibited the knowledge of letters 
by a decree of the Almighty — a tradition 
which it is probable originated with their 
oppressors for purposes by no means diffi- 
cult to imagine. 

They believed that at the creation of the 
world there was both a tvhite and a black 
progenitor, and that the black was origi- 
nally the favourite. To try their disposi- 
tions, the Almighty let down two boxes 
from Heaven, of unequal dimensions, of 
which the black man had the preference of 
choice. Influenced by his propensity to 
greediness, he chose the largest, and the 
smaller one consequently fell to the share 
of the white. " Buckra box," the black 
people are represented as saying, " was 
full up wid pen, paper, and whip, and ne- 
gers, wid hoe and bill, and hoe and bill for 
neger to dis day." 

Previous to the year 1823 there were 
not more than one or two schools in the 
whole island expressly for the instruction 
of the black population. Hence they were 
generally ignorant of the art of reading ; 
while their improvement was universally 
opposed by the planters as inimical to the 
future peace and prosperity of the island. 

It is generally admitted that they were 
not deficient in taste or ability for music, 



but their songs, which were usually im- 
promptu, were destitute of poetry or poetic 
images. On estates, or in particular dis- 
tricts, there were usually found one or 
more males or females, who, resembling 
the improvis*atori or extempore bards of 
Italy and ancient Britain, composed lines 
and sung them on their festive occasions. 
These ballads had usually a ludicrous re- 
ference to the white people, and were gene- 
rally suggested by some recent occur- 
rence.* They were alike ignorant of any 
method for computing the 'periods of time. 
The only means by which any of them as- 
certained, with any degree of certainty, 
the date of particular events, was by a 
kind of artificial memory, such as a recur- 
rence to remarkable seasons of the year, 
to earthquakes, and hurricanes. Some of 
them calculated by the revolutions of the 
moon, their Christmas carnivals, or the 
arrivals and departures of Governors. 
Hence but kw could fix any event nearer 
than twelve months from the period of its 
occurrence ; and scarcely any of them 
were acquainted with their own age, the 
age of their children, or that of their do- 
mestic animals. With the exception of 
the Aradas, and one or two other tribes 
from the Gold Coast, they were almost 
wholly unacquainted with the mechanical 
arts and manufactures, while of civil po- 
lity or the use of civil institutions they 
were equally ignorant. Instances, indeed, 
were common in which interruptions of 
social peace and petty misdemeanors aris- 
ing among themselves were decided by the 
head men on the property, or in the neigh- 
bourhood where they occurred ; but their 
decisions were for the most part arbitrary, 
selfish, and vindictive, being usually given 
either under the influence of bribery, fa- 
vour, or intemperance. For this latter 
purpose, intoxicating drinks were fre- 
quently supplied to them before they pro- 



* " Sangaree kill de captain, 

O dear, he must die! 
New rum kill de sailor, 
O dear, he must die ; 

Hard work kill de neger, 
O dear, he must die. 
La, la, la, la," &c. 
The following is frequently sung in the streets: 
" One, two, tree, 

All de same; 
Black, white, brown, 
All de same, 
All desame. 
One, two, tree," &c. 



76 



JAMAICA: 



ceeded to adjudicate from a superstitious 
notion that intoxication was absolutely es- 
sential to a proper understanding and dis- 
posal of the case. Enthralled and bowed 
down by a system that reduced them to 
the level of the brute, and at the same time 
carefully excluded by their superiors from 
every means of improvement, they were 
altogether destitute of taste and genius. 
Unallured by the enjoyments of civilized 
society and by whatever is sublime and 
beautiful in natural scenery ; — the dwarfs 
of the rational world, their intellect rising 
only to a confused notion and imperfect 
idea of the general objects of human know- 
ledge ; — their whole thoughts, indeed, con- 
fined within the range of their daily em- 
ployments and the wants of savage life. 
By some writers they have been described 
as an inferior species of the human family, 
incapable of advancing beyond a certain 
point in the acquisition of knowledge — the 
connecting link between the animal and 
intellectual economies, affiliated to the 
ourang-outang, and, like that animal, ac- 
tuated not by reason but by instinct. 
Hence they were said to be unable to com- 
bine ideas, to compare, to argue, to judge, 
or to do any thing comparable with the 
performances of perfect men. In pursu- 
ance of the infamous theory which sought 
their affinity with the monsters of the 
woods, they are represented by a Jamaica 
historian and planter,* unable to place a 
table square in a room from a defect of vi- 
sion similar to that of an ourang-outang. 
" I have known them fail in this," says he, 
" after numberless endeavours, and it is 
the same in other things, so that such as 
are bred carpenters and bricklayers are 
often unable, after many tedious and re- 
peated trials with the rule and plumb-line, 
to do a piece of work straight which an 
apprentice boy in England would perform 
with one glance of his eye." Hume, in 
his observations on the native African, 
says, "They are inferior to the rest of the 
species, and utterly incapable of the higher 
attainments of the mind." 

Montesquieu pronounced them not hu- 
man beings, but as occupying an interme- 
diate rank below the whites, and destined 
by their Creator to be the slaves of their 
superiors. An attempt has been made to 
trace the affiliation of some of the tribes, 



Lorij 



particularly the Angolahs, the Whydahs, 
and the inhabitants of Benguela, with the 
ourang-outang, and a conclusion has been 
drawn to the advantage of the latter in the 
supposition of their possessing the same 
means of improvement. Such was the 
state, and such the opinions entertained of 
these poor degraded beings by their lordly 
task-masters, as well as by the disciples of 
a proud and false philosophy, and hence 
the brutal treatment to which they were 
doomed and the degrading epithets by 
which they were designated. It now re- 
mains to exhibit the contrast between their 
past and present intellectual condition, and 
thus assert for them that rank in the scale 
of being which they are destined by na- 
ture and Providence to attain. 

It has been stated that but few instances 
have occurred in which the negroes im- 
ported into Jamaica displayed any acquain- 
tance with the arts and sciences. Nor, 
owing to a want of the necessary oppor- 
tunities, are many to be found at the pre- 
sent day who possess any thing like an 
acquaintance with these branches of know- 
ledge. It is otherwise, however, with re- 
gard to elementary education. Such has 
been the progress of school instruction, 
within the last few years especially, that 
thousands of adults are now enjoying its 
advantages. 

By the published reports of 1841, there 
were belonging to different denominations 
of Christians throughout the island, as 
nearly as it could be ascertained from the 
imperfect data supplied, about 186 day- 
schools, 100 Sabbath-schools, and 20 or 
30 evening-schools ; the latter chiefly for 
the instruction of adults. 

Of the day-schools, 48 are said to have 
been connected with the National Church, 
22 with the Mico Charity, 25 with the 
Wesleyan, 61 with the Baptist, 14 with the 
Church, and 16 with the London Mis- 
sionary Societies, independently of those 
belonging to the Moravians and Presbyte- 
rians, the statistics of which the writer has 
not been able to procure. These alto- 
gether are reported to contain about 62,240 
scholars ; but, deducting for irregularity 
of attendance, for Sabbath-scholars inclu- 
ded in the lists of day-schools, for the 
number of schools formerly connected with 
the National Church and Mico Charity 
which have been since closed, the present 
number is estimated at about 30,000. 



ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 



77 



As an evidence of the proficiency that 
is being made by these children of Ethiopia 
in the various branches of learning taught 
in these institutions, it is only necessary to 
introduce one or two extracts from reports 
which have been published on the spot by 
disinterested individuals, who have attended 
examinations of the scholars. The extracts 
will refer to the Metropolitan schools in 
Spanish Town,* established in 1825, as 
their operations are personally known to 
the writer, but they may be adduced as 
specimens of all the well-regulated schools 
on the island. Says a gentleman in 1830, 
but five years after their establishment, 
" I witnessed the examination of the chil- 
dren in the lower classes with peculiar 
pleasure and interest ; but the elder chil- 
dren in the upper classes truly filled my 
mind with wonder and admiration. After 
reading portions of the Holy Scriptures 
and the ' History of Greece,' they were 
very minutely interrogated on those por- 
tions, and their answers were so correct 
that I could scarcely help blushing at my 
own ignorance. Their facility in arithme- 
tic was surprising — sums in Reduction, 
Proportion, Practice, Fellowship, and Vul- 
gar Fractions, were worked with such ra- 
pidity, that the examiner could scarcely 
keep pace with them. In the sciences of 
geography and astronomy the whole school 
appeared enthusiastic ; the whole world, 
as it were in a moment, was divided into 
continents, islands, oceans, seas, and 
lakes : zones, longitude and latitude, the 
twelve signs of the zodiac, motions of the 
earth and its distance from the sun, were 
all described with an expertness and accu- 
racy I could scarcely have believed. Upon 
the whole, it far surpassed all that I ever 
saw in England." These, it will be re- 
membered, were children of negroes, or 
their immediate descendants, very few of 
whom five years before had seen a book, 
and who in their habits and manners dif- 
fered but little from those in a state of 
savage nature. 

Similar testimony was borne by the 
Honourable Alexander Bravo, a large pro- 
prietor, who presided at an examination of 
the same schools in 1839. 

"The performances of the infant class 
were indeed astonishing. In spelling, read- 



* These schools, during eleven years, have been 
supported chiefly by the London Central Negro's 
Friend Society. 



ing, writing, recitation, grammar, and 
natural philosophy, in which some mere 
children had actually made proficiency, 
marks of improvement were exhibited in 
every class ; the same in arithmetic. The 
children were many of them very profi- 
cient in geography and the use of the 
globes, but I must not restrain the expres- 
sions of my admiration as well as surprise 
at the exhibition of the boys in geometry. 
Their demonstrations were well examined 
and found perfectly correct ; and I will not 
withhold the pleasing and amusing fact, 
that one of the scholars had shown his own 
ingenuity, as well as the practical utility 
of the science, in the construction, from 
wood, of a most ingenious pair of compas- 
ses, which had been imitated and percepti- 
bly improved upon by the other scholars of 
the class." To these testimonies the writer 
cannot forbear adding that of another im- 
partial witness, who was present at the ex- 
amination of the same schools in 1842, and 
who signs himself " A Stranger in Ja- 
maica." At this meeting the Honourable 
Judge Bernard presided, and Sir Joseph 
de Courcey Laffan, one of the directors of 
the African Civilization Society, with many 
other gentlemen of respectability, attended 
as deeply interested spectators. This tes- 
timony is the more important, as the most 
successful competitors on the occasion were 
two black boys, one the son of an African 
in the army, and the other the son of a re- 
cently emancipated slave.* After referring 
with great satisfaction to the progress of 
the younger classes, he continues : — " The 
elder classes also read in Scripture with 
great satisfaction to the visiters. They 
were then examined in ciphering, which 
task they performed correctly, as the solu- 
tions to their questions were exhibited to 
the visiters to avoid even the shadow of a 
fallacy. Some of the older boys answer- 
ed geometrical questions with great preci- 
sion, showing that they must have under- 
stood the subject well. I was equally 
amused with the elocutive part of the ex- 
amination. Some of the children had com- 
mitted long pieces to memory for recita- 
tion. The visiters expressed their admi- 
ration of the exhibitions by continued de- 
monstrations of applause." In addition to 
these acquisitions they possessed also a 



* Alexander Fuller, now gone as a missionary to 
A frica. 



78 



JAMAICA : 



considerable knowledge of civil and sacred 
geography, of biblical antiquities, and of 
the emblems, figures, parables, types, and 
most remarkable passages and chapters of 
the Bible. There was scarcely one who, 
besides his other acquisitions, was not able 
to recite chapters of the Bible and hymns 
from memory. On a former occasion one 
little boy repeated two hundred and thirty- 
eight hymns and three chapters, compris- 
ing sixty-six verses, almost without mis- 
take or hesitation. A little girl recited, 
with equal facility and correctness, forty- 
nine hymns and eight chapters of the Bible, 
the chapters containing two hundred and 
forty verses. The two boys, to whom al- 
lusion has been made, and who attracted 
the particular notice of Sir Joseph Laffan, 
exhibited specimens of beautiful penman- 
ship and maps of their own construction. 

A similar testimony to the astonishing 
proficiency of many of the negro children 
in the various branches of useful know, 
ledge, has been borne by their excellencies 
Sir Lionel Smith and Sir Charles Metcalfe, 
who have honoured the schools with their 
presence at the annual examination of the 
scholars. 

The two school-mistresses and the 
master, superintendents of the different de- 
partments of these schools, were once slaves, 
and acquired all the knowledge they pos- 
sessed in the institution over which they 
now so ably preside. By the operations 
of the normal schools, of which there are 
several, a considerable number of native 
young men and women have been quali- 
fied for the important situation of teachers, 
and in most cases are conducting the 
schools under their charge as efficiently as 
masters and mistresses from Europe. 

In addition to what has been said of the 
proficiency of the negroes in the various 
branches of scholastic knowledge, their at- 
tainments in music and psalmody must not 
be omitted. Most of them are possessed 
of fine voices, and are by no means defi- 
cient in taste. The singing at many places 
of religious worship, where the choir is 
composed almost entirely of blacks and 
their descendants, is but very little inferior 
to that at places of worship in England ; 
and, were the same advantages enjoyed 
by the one class as by the other, not the 
slightest difference would be discernible. 
Hundreds of them are self-taught profi- 
cients in the use of the various European 



instruments of music. Many can play 
beautifully on the violin, the clarionet, and 
the flute, without a knowledge of notes; 
and when regularly instructed in the 
science are by no means inferior in ^skill 
and execution to the whites. The band of 
the 2nd West Indian Regiment, now in 
Spanish Town, is composed almost entire- 
ly of liberated or recaptured Africans from 
Spanish and Portuguese slave-ships, and 
their performances will bear a comparison 
with those of any other regimental band in 
her Majesty's service. 

Any imputation of ignorance of the me- 
chanic arts and manufactures now cast 
upon the black population of Jamaica 
would only excite the ridicule or contempt 
of those who are personally acquainted 
with them. There are now to be found 
amongst the black population throughout 
the country, comprehending individuals 
of each tribe, operatives, mechanics, and 
masons, carpenters, coopers, blacksmiths, 
sailors, pilots ; and it may be added, from 
their knowledge of the properties of medi- 
cinal herbs, and their skill in applying 
them to different disorders, veterinary 
surgeons and medical men ; whilst in the 
towns are also shoemakers, cabinetmakers, 
carvers and gilders, watchmakers, jewel- 
lers, &c. &c, who manifest as much skill, 
and perform their work with as much ac- 
curacy and taste, as workmen of the same 
description in England. Most of the houses 
and public buildings — churches, chapels, 
court-houses — were built chiefly by slaves ; 
and to the slaves equally with the free 
blacks and people of colour have the white 
inhabitants been indebted, not only for 
their common works of art, but for nearly 
every article of local manufacture. 

So far from being now ignorant of civil 
polity and of the use of civil institutions, it 
is questionable whether any people in the 
world, placed in the same circumstances, 
possesses an equally correct acquaintance 
with these subjects ; whilst the superior 
style of cottage architecture every where 
apparent since freedom (when such cot- 
tages became their own), their furniture, 
and the gardens that surround them, are 
sufficient refutations of the charge of de- 
ficiency of taste for the useful and orna- 
mental. Not less unfounded is the impu- 
tation that they are deficient in inventive 
and imitative genius. Even among the 
most untutored of the African race these 



ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 



79 



I qualities have been sometimes displayed in 
1 a degree truly astonishing. They have 
been manifested not only in the construc- 
tion and manufacture of articles of domes- 
tic use, but also (and that without any pre- 
vious instruction) in the higher branches of 
mechanics. Their locks and bolts, together 
with oiher contrivances for security and 
convenience, are a sufficient evidence of 
the truth of this assertion ; to which may 
be added, their contrivances for cooking, 
manufacturing sugar of their own produc- 
ion, as well as various other things of do- 
mestic utility. 

The faculties of wit and imitation in the 

legro race are also remarkable. Scarcely 

iny foible or peculiarity of gesture or ac- 

:ent is discoverable, in a stranger especial- 

y, but it is mimicked to the life, often to 

he no small amusement of groups of spec- 

itors. Instances have frequently occurred 

i which white men have seen themselves 

xhibited as subjects of amusement to the 

k'hole fraternity of a negro village, and an 

nstance is recorded in which it afforded a 

alutary lesson to the object of ridicule. It 

/as in the case of a drunken planter. 

[earing on a certain occasion the sound 

f considerable merriment in the direction 

f his negro settlement, curiosity induced 

m secretly to ascertain the cause, when 

beheld a negro personifying his own 

stures and habits when in a state of in- 

ication, amidst the convulsive laughter 

the multitudes of men, women, and 

dren gathered around him. The whole 

f; v.ie had such an effect upon him that he 

» ;:x again indulged in similar excesses. 

r imitative faculty is equally displayed 

< 3 acquisition of trades and arts. Thou- 

s of them are not at all inferior to 

r of the whites, either in sound sense 

, sneral information. In a word, the 

h skin and the woolly hair constitute 

inly difference which now exists be- 

: 1 multitudes of the emancipated pea- 

y of Jamaica and the tradesmen and 

;ulturists of England. 

|ior are the intellectual faculties of this 

; mniated and oppressed people in any 

. . oect inferior to the rest of the species; 

t y have simply been suspended from 

action, and the absence of those influences 

nich were necessary to their developement. 

•lany of their common adages are as much 

distinguished by shrewdness and sagacity 

as the maxims and proverbs of more civi- 



lized nations. To convey an impression 
of covetousness, with reference to any in- 
dividual, they say, " Him covetous, like 
star-apple," because that fruit is distin- 
guished for its tenacity. of adhesion to the 
tree. When they wish to represent du- 
plicity, they say " Him hab two faces, like 
star-apple leaf," the leaf of the star-apple 
tree being of two colours, a bright green 
above and a buff below. To convey the 
impression of wisdom, forethought, and 
peaceableness of disposition, they say, 
"Softly water run deep." "When man 
dead grass grow at him door," expressive 
of the forgetfulness and disregard by which 
death is succeeded. " Poor man never 
vex," denoting the humility which is 
usually the accompaniment of poverty. 

Mr. Edwards mentions an instance of 
shrewdness and sagacity on the part of a 
negro servant which is not often surpassed. 
Exhausted by a long journey he had fallen 
asleep. On being awoke, and told some- 
what sharply that his master was angry 
because " him da call, call, and him keep 
on sleep, and no heary," he facetiously re- 
plied, " Sleep no heb massa." 

" Wilberforce," said a negro on one oc- 
casion, in the midst of a group of his com- 
panions — "Wilberforce — dat good name 
for true ; him good buckra ; him want fo 
make we free ; and if him can't get we free 
no oder way him will by force.'''* 

During an examination of a black ser- 
vant in the Catechism, he was asked by 
the clergyman what- he was made of? " Of 
mud, massa," was the reply. On being 
told he should say " Of dust," he answered, 
" No, massa, it no do, no tick togedder." 

A negro, when in a state of heathenism, 
contracted a debt to a considerable amount. 
Being frequently importuned for payment, 
he resolved to be christened, and afterwards, 
on application being made, replied, with 
considerable nctivete, " Me is new man 
now ; befo me name Quashie, now me 
Thomas, derefo Thomas no pay Quashie 
debt." 

A gentleman is reported to have said to 
a Christian negro, " What do you think of 



* A negro, having purchased a hat, was observed 
to take it from his head on the fall of a shower of 
rain, and to manifest considerable anxiety to preserve 
it from the wet. On being remonstrated with for his 
supposed stupidity in thus leaving his head exposed, 
he wittily observed — "Hat belong to me, head belong 
to Massa." 



80 



JAMAICA: 



the doctrine of election?" He made no 
reply, but instantly brought five pieces of 
wood. These he placed on the table, and 
then taking two of the five, leaving the 
other three, ho said, " There, massa, dat 
what we mean by election." 

The following anecdote in illustration 
can scarcely be withheld. It was related 
to the author by the son of the principal 
party, as an evidence of the ingratitude 
and ferocity of the negro character. A 
white man had often beaten one of his 
slaves very unmercifully for the most 
trifling offences ; the latter, after a punish- 
ment unusually severe, preferred a com- 
plaint against him before a bench of magis- 
trates, which had the effect of securing a 
reprimand by them to the master. Highly 
provoked with the presumption of the slave 
for thus daring to expose him in open court, 
the master meditated the most determined 
revenge. Some time after, sending the 
slave into a summer-house situated in a 
secluded spot in his garden, he resolved to 
wreak upon him the vengeance he had 
meditated. Instantly seizing a large stick, 
he entered the house, and securing the 
door, vociferated, " Now, villain, I'll teach 
you to take me before the magistrates. 
You try to injure my character, do you — 
I'll make you pay dear for it, I'll warrant 
you. Nobody can see me here, and you'll 
have no witness now," at the same time 
beginning to beat him unmercifully. The 
slave, being a powerful man, on hearing 
the latter sentence, immediately seized the 
weapon, and wresting it from the master's 
hand, retaliated on him, saying, "If me no 
hab witness to prosecute massa, massa no 
heb witness fo prosecute me," and continued 
the flagellation until the assailant was 
obliged to cry for mercy, which was shown 
him by the victorious Quashy, on condition 
of a solemn pledge by the master that he 
would never notice the circumstance to his 
disadvantage — a promise which, from self- 
ish motives, he was induced to preserve 
inviolate. 

The lowest and most unintelligent of the 
tribes are the Mungolas. Their stupidity, 
however, has often been more feigned than 
real ; thus, when attracting the gaze of 
multitudes at their annual carnivals by 
their grotesque appearance and ridiculous 
gambols, they have been often known to 
indulge in the keenest satire and merriment 
at their own expense, repeating in chorus, 



" Buckra tink Mungola nigger fool make 
him tan so." So far from being more de- 
ficient in acuteness and discrimination than 
other men, none can penetrate more deeply 
than the negro into character, or form an 
opinion of strangers with greater correct- 
ness and precision. The idea of their 
inability, even in their most untutored 
state, to combine ideas and pursue a chain 
of reasoning is equally erroneous, as is 
evident from the following defence, said to 
have been made before a bench of justices 
in one of the country parishes by certain 
negroes who had run away from their 
work. The judges on the occasion were 
two medical men. The complaint having 
been preferred, the defendants were seve- 
rally called upon to state their case. The 
object of the first was to render the charac- 
ter of the accuser odious, to conciliate 
the feelings of the Court to himself, by 
drawing a contrast between the cruelty of 
the overseer and the clemency of the judge, 
as well as to excite sympathy by a narra- 
tion of his sufferings. 

The second illustrates the hardships of 
his case, by instituting a comparison be- 
tween his own lot and that of a woodpecker, 
and urges, that having been born as free 
as that bird, the overseer had no more 
claim to his services than he had to those 
of the woodpecker. He draws a compari- 
son between the condition of the two, to 
the advantage of the latter, and. ridicules 
the idea that he was neither to build his 
own house nor to have any shelter before 
going to work for the overseer, concluding 
his defence by a recital of the punishment 
inflicted on him. 

A third had been charged with inatten- 
tion to poultry committed to her care, 
owing to which many of them had died. 
She was required by the overseer to pay 
for them, and in default of it was to be 
punished. Indisposed, or unable to pay, 
and dreading the threatened punishment, 
she had absconded. It will be observed 
that she attempts to conciliate the chief 
magistrate, by flattering him with her 
opinion of his medical skill ; proves his 
inability to counteract the designs of Om- 
nipotence, with regard to the death of any 
of his patients; appeals to him, if under 
such circumstances he would be justly 
charged with a want of attention, or re- 
quired to pay any penalty for the loss of 
his patients, and hence infers the injustice 



ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 



81 



of the demand made upon her under similar 
circumstances. 

The defence of the two latter only will 
be given, and that briefly and in their own 
dialect. 

" Massa," said the first of them, address- 
ing the senior judge, " me bin no heb no 
house, and when me bin cut one bread-nut 
tree me see how one woodpecker bin build 
him house in the tree, and me tink say, 
poor me boy ! The woodpecker is better 
off than me, him hab plenty time for build 
him house and mind him pickinniny, and 
when woodpecker da sleep in the mornin, 
him no fraid of bad busha for flog him be- 
cause him no turn out before day to do 
buckra work, and me tink it was berry 
hard me for live worse than woodpecker, 
and busha say me lazy, and him will build 
house for me, and me tell him say, him 
must look at woodpecker house, so say if 
busha bin built it, and me ax him why him 
no make woodpecker cut bread-nuts, and 
dig cane-holes, so busha flog me till me 
most dead. Posin you youself handsome 
somebody like you, blong to him, him 
would flog you till you most dead too." 

" Massa," said the other, " me bin fowl- 
house woman, and the truckies (turkeys) 
dead na me hand eberry day, so busha say 
me must pay for dem. Now, massa doc- 
tor, you is cleber person to cure sick some- 
body, and if dem can cure, you will cure 
dem, but if dem time come for dead, dem 
must dead, for though massa doctor berry 
cleber, him can't do more dan God. Same 
fashion, massa, if da trucky time for dead 
come, dem must dead. Now, massa doc- 
tor, pose neger sick in the hot-house, and 
dem time for dead come, and God make 
dem dead, it no would be berry hard you 
for pay cause dem dead ? So it berry 
hard me for pay for de trucky dead, and 
busha say him will flog me, so me run 
away." 

By such an array of incontrovertible 
facts, the natural inferiority of the negro 
in mental capacity and his consequent un- 
susceptibility of the advantages of culture 
and instruction are proved to be utterly fal- 
lacious. But additional evidence may be 
afforded as the result of repeated and im- 
partial experiments. In schools, of which 
the writer has for many years had the di- 
rection, both white, coloured, and black 
children have begun the alphabet and ad- 
vanced together in the same school for 



years, their advantages in every respect 
being equal ; and whether it has been 
owing, on the part of the white pupil, to 
parental indulgence, or to the influence of 
climate, or, on the part of the black, to 
the absence of these causes, or to a more 
implicit dependence on their own resources, 
in almost every instance the black and 
brown children have made the greatest pro- 
ficiency, and have appeared to the best 
advantage at public examinations. 

One little boy, the son of a Mungola 
and a Papaw, two of the tribes described 
by an historian* as almost 

" The lag of human kind 
Nearest to brute of God designed," 

but whose appearance, according to the 
theories of phrenologists, presented some 
of the finest indications of mental capacity, 
could read the New Testament at the age 
of four years and a half, and answer any 
ordinary question from it that might be 
proposed ; at the same time giving indica- 
tions of powers of memory truly surpris- 
ing. At the age of six years, continuing 
to improve in the same degree, he had 
made considerable proficiency in writing 
and arithmetic, and given proofs of a rich 
and rapidly-expanding intellect, which, at 
such an age, have seldom been surpassed 
in children of a fairer skin. Nor is this a 
mere isolated case, but one out of many 
that might be selected, as the result of 
nearly twenty years' experience and ob- 
servation, both in town and country dis- 
tricts. The writer is fully persuaded that 
our coloured and black fellow-creatures are 
equally as capable of being conducted 
through every stage of mental discipline 
and taught to arrive at as great a height of 
social and intellectual improvement as has 
ever been attained by the most privileged 
Europeans. 

The equality of the African race in 
mental endowments with other nations was 
abundantly evidenced in former ages; nor, 
where the like advantages have been en- 
joyed, are we without similar examples in 
our own. Among African divines are the 
names of Clemens, Cyprian, Augustine, 
and Tertullian; Terence among her poets; 
Hannibal and Asdrubal in the list of her 
heroes. Africa is said to have been the 
parent of the arts and of civilization ; to 

* Long, 



82 



JAMAICA: 



have given to Spain the first principles of 
refinement and philosophy ; and even to 
Greece and Rome their earliest rudiments 
of learning and abstract science. " She 
exhibited the first approach to alphabetical 
writing by hieroglyphic emblems; the first 
great works in sculpture, painting, and 
architecture ; and travellers even now find 
Egypt and Carthage covered with magnifi- 
cent monuments, erected at an era when 
the faintest dawn of science had not yet 
illuminated the regions of Europe," — 

"If glorious structures and immortal deeds 
Enlarge the heart and set our souls on fire, 
My tongue has been too cold in Egypt's praise — 
Queen of the nations, and the boast of times, 
Mother of science, and the house of gods; 
Scarce can I open wide my lab'ring mind 
To comprehend the vast idea big with arts and 

arms, 
So boundless is its fame."* 

Among the distinguished Africans, of 
later times are Friedg, of Vienna, an emi- 
nent architect and musician; Hannibal, a 
colonel in the Russian service, celebrated 
for his mathematical and scientific attain- 
ments; Lislet, of the Isle of France, a 
member of the French Academy ; Arno, a 
doctor of divinity in the university at 
Wirtemberg; Ignatius Sancho, of our own 
country ; and Francis Williams of Spanish 
Town, Jamaica ; the latter of whom was 
sent to a grammar school in England by the 
Duke of Montague, afterwards to Cam- 
bridge, and was a good politician, mathe- 
matician, and poet. His Latin poem ad- 
dressed to General Haldane on his as- 
sumption of the government of Jamaica 
was regarded as one of the first produc- 
tions of the age. There are also the 
names of Toussaint, Petion, and others in 
Hayti ; Payanga in South America, with a 
list too numerous to recount. 

In Jamaica at the present time there are 
many of the descendants of Africa, of 
whose names delicacy forbids the men- 
tion, but who, amidst all the disadvantages 
with which they have had to struggle, do 
not suffer by a comparison with the most 
» talented and accomplished Europeans, and 
who, had they been placed in more favour- 
ed circumstances, would have shone among 
the most distinguished men of any age or 
country. The sons of Ethiopia have been 
too long despised by the proud descend- 

*The identity of the negroes with the ancient 
Egyptians has been disputed, but in the opinion of the 
writer with no sufficient reason. 



ants of a more favoured fortune. All 
classes have agreed together to point at 
them the finger of scorn, and to hurl to- 
wards them the missiles of reproach. The 
man of science has been too ready to unite 
with the more flippant accuser ; learning 
and eloquence have descended from their 
elevation to assist in the mean assault; 
rank and station have joined in the inglo- 
rious crusade ; half the civilized world, 
smitten with the demon of cupidity, had em- 
barked with a loathsome zeal in the unna- 
tural strife. But other times are gradually 
opening, and the great drama of African 
fortunes is imperceptibly shifting. Though 
her ancient glory lies shrouded behind the 
cloud of dim mysterious antiquity, another 
era is about to dawn upon her race, and a 
brighter and more steady radiance than 
that which she has lost to settle upon her 
history. With the testimony of distant 
ages, and the evidence afforded by passing 
events, it will be difficult for any, except 
they be men possessed of unblushing im- 
pudence, to persevere in the ungenerous 
calumnies repudiated and condemned. 

Proofs of the claims of the great colour- 
ed family to intellect and social equality 
with those of a more favoured skin, will 
be accumulating with ever-augmenting ra- 
pidity amidst the new influences of these 
passing times. The most sceptical will be 
compelled to yield to the attestation of 
daily multiplying facts, and the most pre- 
judiced to abandon for very shame their 
vicious predilections and opinions. The 
oppressed offspring of Ham will rise at the 
life-giving call of Christianity, and meekly 
array themselves in beauty and in power. 
Acquiring a taste for knowledge and a love 
for virtue, they will receive into their midst 
the germ of all vitality and the secret of 
all strength, and the period is not, it is 
fondly hoped, so remote but that some pro- 
mise of it already illumines the horizon. 
When gently led forward by the humane 
of every nation they shall, under the egis 
of an overshadowing Providence, run a 
career of honourable progression in all 
that adorns and elevates the species, with 
the boasting inhabitants of some privileged 
climes. 

To realize these anticipations nothing is 
required but the introduction of a liberal 
and enlarged scheme of sound education 
among the more respectable classes of the 
coloured and black population. These ad- 



ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 



83 



vantages, now the exclusive inheritance of 
their brethren of a fairer skin, must be ex- 
tended to them, and seminaries of learning 
and of science be raised and consecrated 
to their use. 

It is time that intelligent and aspiring 
youth, who are distinguished from others 
only by their outward hue, had the means 
of assembling in halls of their own, safe 
from the taunts of folly and of pride. The 
establishment of a College in Jamaica, 
after the model of University College 
in London, by no means an insuperable 
task, would be of incalculable advantage 
to the descendants of Africa in the western 
islands,* and do more than all else to ex- 
pose to the ridicule it deserves the senseless 
distinction which it is the study of so many 
to perpetuate and extend. There are thou- 
sands in England who would rejoice to aid 
in so glorious an effort to elevate the co- 
loured and black population in the scale of 
learning, and to raise them to their just 
and proper position among the nations of 
the earth, while the faintest prospect of so 
important a step in the path of improve- 
ment inspires the breast of the writer with 
delight. To this desirable object he begs 
to awaken the attention of gentlemen of 
colour abroad, and of high and honour- 
able minds at home.f 

It would be the most glorious compensa- 
tion the British public could award the de- 
scendants of Africa in Jamaica (for com- 
pensation is still their due), were they to 
erect, as a monument of emancipation, a 
seminary of learning of this description, 
which, independently of benefits of a higher 
kind, would enable our black and coloured 
brethren to take their proper rank in the 
republic of letters, and thus not only wipe 
away the stigma so long fixed upon them 
by infidel philosophers, but destroy for 
ever the pretext which is urged for their 
degradation. Some years since the writer 
published addresses on this important sub- 
ject to the middling and higher classes of 
the colony, accompanied by a prospectus 
of such an establishment, which excited 
considerable attention and sympathy. 

The object, however, was considered 



*The importance of such an institution to the civi- 
lization of Africa also would be incalculable. 

t It is a pleasing fact that a native of St. Domingo 
lately obtained the highest honours at the University 
of Paris, and that a negro is now a student ia one of 
the Colleges at Cambridge. 



impracticable, unaided by the Christian 
public in England. Engaged as that pub- 
lic was in endeavouring to abolish slavery, 
pecuniary aid from them could scarcely be 
expected, and the purpose was abandoned. 
The great struggle with slavery having at 
length so successfully terminated, and the 
necessity for such an institution having 
greatly increased, it is now especially de- 
sirable that the plan should be carried into 
operation. To inform the friends of the 
African race more particularly of its na- 
ture and object, and to stimulate them to 
aid the establishment of it, particulars are 
given in the Appendix. 

" What," says the late Dr. Mason Good, 
alluding to the progress of the arts and 
sciences in Africa, " produced the dif- 
ference we now behold ? What has kept 
the Bambareens,* like the Chinese, nearly 
in a stationary state for, perhaps, upwards 
of two thousand years, and has enabled the 
rude and painted Britons to become the 
first people in the world, the most renowned 
for arts and for arms, for the best virtues 
of the heart, and the best faculties of the 
understanding 1 Not a difference in the 
colour of the skin; but, first, the peculiar 
favour of the Almighty ; next, a political 
constitution which was sighed for, and in 
some degree prefigured, by Plato and Tully, 
but regarded as a master-piece beyond the 
power of human accomplishment ; and, 
lastly, a fond and fostering cultivation of 
science in every ramification and depart- 
ment, "f 

Numerous as are the common schools 
in Jamaica, and efficient as they have been 
in accomplishing the objects for which they 
have been established, it cannot be forgot- 
ten that a vast amount of ignorance yet re- 
mains. It is estimated that full one-half of 
the population are yet without the means 
of instruction : a reflection which becomes 
the more painful from the circumstance 
that during the last two years, school 
operations, instead of increasing, have 
diminished throughout the island from want 
of funds. % 



* "The kingdom of Bambarra, of which Timbuctoo 
is the capital, it is supposed, was as completely es- 
tablished and flourished in Caesar's time as at the pre- 
sent moment." 

t Jamaica Almanac. 

+ The subjoined official document, while it will 
sustain the representation here made of the late de- 
crease in the number of schools, will, at the same 
time, show the progressive advancement of education, 



84 



JAMAICA: 



The greatest calamity at this crisis of 
the history of Freedom, next to that of the 
diminution of the public means and ordi- 
nances of religion, would be the decrease 
of school instruction ; and the present 
chapter cannot be concluded without pre- 
senting an earnest appeal to the Christian 
public to continue and increase their efforts, 
both for the support and extension of these 
institutions, until, freed from the difficulties 
attendant on the establishment of new set- 
tlements, added to a better appreciation of 
the advantages of education, parents will 
be able and willing to support them, inde- 
pendently of foreign aid. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

SOCIAL CONDITION. 

Negro Villages in Time of Slavery — Houses — Dress 
of Slaves — Personal and Domestic Habits — Licen- 
tiousness — Polygamy — Marriage — Treatment of 
Females — Indolence — Improvement in all these 
Respects — Opening of a New Township under 
Freedom — Number of new Settlements established 
— Growing Comfort and Prosperity of the Country 
— Evidences of these results. 

The negro villages were, in general, 
situated amongst groves of fruit-trees, pre- 
senting to the eye at a distance, especial- 
ly in the full blaze of the sun, an appear- 
ance very far from forbidding ; but on a 
nearer approach they were unsightly, and, 
owing to the offensive effluvia arising from 
quantities of decayed vegetable matter, far 
from healthy. The houses were thrown 
together without any pretence to order or 
arrangement ; and, with a few exceptions, 
were wretched habitations. They consist- 
ed of posts put into the ground at the dis- 
tance of about two feet asunder; the inter- 
mediate space being closed up with wattle, 
daubed over on the inside with mud. In 
some instances they were divided into two 
or three apartments, but thousands consist- 
ed of one room only. This served the 
whole of the family for all domestic uses. 

and its occasional interruptions, from the year 1800 
nearly to the present time : — 

" In 1800, the children taught in all the schools in 
Kingston, including Woolmer's, which was then the 
only public school, amounted to 315. They increased 
gradually, but slowly, till 1831, when the numbers 
were 4088. In 1832 they decreased to 3738. In 1836 
they amounted to 7707 ; in 1837 to 8753 ; and in 1842 
the numbers decreased, as already stated, to 6525." — 
Morning Journal, Feb. 9, 1843. 



At night all huddled promiscuously round 
a fire kindled in its centre ; and with scarce- 
ly any other covering than their scanty 
and well-worn daily apparel, they sought 
the refreshment and repose necessary for a 
renewal of their daily toil. A few wooden 
bowls or calabashes, a water-jar, a wooden 
mortar for pounding their Indian corn, and 
an iron pot for boiling the farrago of vege- 
table ingredients which composed their 
daily meal, comprised almost all their furni- 
ture. The beds used by the more decent 
and civilized were wooden frames, with a 
mat of rough material, raised about a foot 
from the earthen floor, and their covering 
a blanket. A few cottages might exhibit 
a somewhat nearer approach to the customs 
of civilized society ; but these were excep- 
tions to the general rule. Each house was 
surrounded by a piece of garden-ground, 
and the village, in general, was intersected 
by narrow, straggling, and dirty lanes. 

The dress of the males consisted princi- 
pally of a coarse cap or hat, and a pair of 
Osnaburgh trousers, or a shirt of the same 
material ; that of the females of a hand- 
kerchief tied in a turban-like manner round 
the head, an Osnaburgh under-garment, 
and a coarse blue baize petticoat. Shoes 
or stockings constituted no part of their 
apparel, except on very particular occa- 
sions. 

So little did they respect the decencies 
of life, and so little were these observed 
towards them by their superiors, that boys 
and girls of seven or eight years of age 
were accustomed to work together, or to 
roam at large, entirely destitute of cover- 
ing. In this state it was not uncommon 
for them to be employed as domestic ser- 
vants. Nor was it unusual for both sexes 
at thirteen years of age, and in stature 
almost men and women, to wait at table, 
at parties composed of white ladies and 
gentlemen, with no other covering than a 
long shirt, or a loose habit of a similar 
description. 

Multitudes were exceedingly filthy in 
their persons. Some were particular in 
their diet, and scrupulously clean in the 
process of its preparation; but with others 
cane-rats, cats, putrid fish, and even rep- 
tiles and animals in a state of decomposi- 
tion, were their common food.* 



* Rats were a common article of commerce in the 
public markets. 



ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 



85 



The sanctities of marriage were almost 
unknown ; there was no such thing, indeed, 
as legitimate marriages among the slaves. 
This sacred institute was ridiculed by the 
negroes, and regarded as inimical to their 
happiness. Under such circumstances 
the state of society can be easily conceived. 
Licentiousness the most degraded and un- 
restrained was the order of the day. Every 
estate on the island — every negro hut was 
a common brothel : every female a prosti- 
tute, and every man a libertine. Many 
aged individuals have frequently assured 
the writer that among the female slaves 
there were none who had not sacrificed all 
pretensions to virtue before they had 
attained their fourteenth year ; whilst 
hundreds were known to have become 
mothers before they had even entered upon 
their teens. Polygamy was also common. 
So far as an agreement between themselves 
was concerned, they may be said to have 
formed a matrimonial alliance ; but their 
affection was liable to frequent interrup- 
tions, and divorces were consequently of 
common occurrence ; whilst the manner 
in which the ceremony attending the latter 
was performed, was not a little singular, 
and far from insignificant. On such occa- 
sions they usually took a cotta, a circular 
pad formed of the plantain-leaf,and dividing 
it, each of the party took half. Regarding 
the circle as a symbol of Eternity, and the 
ring of perpetual love and fidelity, it was a 
ceremony that certainly did not inaptly 
express their eternal disunion. Like the 
inhabitants of all uncivilized nations, the 
men treated the women as inferior in the 
scale of being to themselves, exercising 
over those who composed their respective 
harems a kind of petty sovereignty. The 
women usually cooked the food of their 
acknowledged lords, waited upon them 
with all the obsequiousness of devoted ser- 
vants, and assisted them in the cultivation 
of their grounds, and the sale of their pro- 
duce. Sometimes this assumed superiority 
degenerated into the most vexatious ty- 
ranny ; the consequences of which were 
often terrible in the display of furious and 
vindictive passions, which not unfrequently 
led to a dissolution of the whole relative 
connexion. Their social condition was 
therefore deplorable. Unameliorated by 
any firm domestic ties, their homes, if such 
they could be called, were embittered by 
all the dark passions of the fallen heart — 



by " hatred, variance, emulation, wrath, 
strife, envying, revelling, and such like." 

The indolence of the negro race has ever 
been proverbial : hence the necessity, as 
their enemies have argued, of the frequent 
application of the whip, and various other 
modes of legalized torture, as a stimulus 
to labour. " I have seen some," says Mr. 
Long, " so exquisitely indolent, that they 
have contracted very bad ulcer3 on their 
feet, by suffering multitudes of chigoes to 
nestle and generate there, rather than give 
themselves the trouble of picking them 
out." The general idleness of the people 
is usually assigned as the cause of most of 
the punishments inflicted upon them during 
slavery ; and, to a considerable degree, the 
representation is correct. Let it, however, 
be remembered that, under the circum- 
stances in which they were then placed, 
they had not a single stimulus to industry. 

From this revolting picture we turn with 
pleasure to the contrast as exhibited in the 
progress of the last twenty years. There 
is not generally so great an improvement 
in the size, structure, and interior arrange- 
ment of the cottages upon estates as might 
have been expected, but in those which 
form the new villages that have been esta- 
blished throughout the island since the abo- 
lition of slavery, the difference is striking. 
Most of these are in all respects equal, and 
some of them superior, to the tenancies of 
labourers in the rural districts of England. 
They vary in size with the number of the 
family. In general they are from 20 to 
30 feet in length, and from 14 to 18 in 
breadth. They are either neatly thatched, 
or shingled with pieces of hard wood hewn 
somewhat in the shape of slates. Some 
are built of stone or wood ; but the gene- 
rality are an improvement on those on es- 
tates, being plastered also on the outside, 
and white-washed. Many are ornamented 
with a portico in front to screen the sitting- 
apartment from the sun and rain : while, 
for the admission of light and air, as well 
as to add to their appearance, all of them 
exhibit either shutters or jealousies, painted 
green, or small glass windows. There is 
usually a sleeping-apartment at each end, 
and a sitting-room in the centre. The 
floors are in most instances terraced, al- 
though boarded ones for sleeping-rooms 
are becoming common. Many of the latter 
contain good mahogany bedsteads, a wash- 
hand stand, a looking-glass, and chairs. 



86 



JAMAICA : 



The middle apartment is usually furnished 
with a sideboard, displaying sundry arti- 
cles of crockery-ware, some decent-looking 
chairs, and not unfrequently with a kw 
broad sheets of the Tract Society hung 
round the walls in neat frames of cedar. 
For cooking food, and other domestic pur- 
poses, a little room or two is erected at the 
back of the cottage, where are also arrang- 
ed the various conveniences for keeping 
domestic stock. The villages are laid out 
in regular order, being divided into lots 
more or less intersected by roads or streets. 
The plots are usually in the form of an 
oblong square. The cottage is situated at 
an equal distance from each side of the 
allotment, and at about eight or ten feet, 
more or less, from the public thoroughfare. 
The piece of ground in front is, in some 
instances, cultivated in the style of a Eu- 
ropean garden : displaying rose-bushes, and 
other flowering shrubs among the choicer 
vegetable productions; while the remainder 
is covered with all the substantial vegeta- 
bles and fruits of the country, heterogene- 
ously intermixed. In this description there 
is an especial reference to the settlement 
at Sligoville* — a view of which is here an- 
nexed. 

This township was commenced in 1885, 
anticipative of the necessity that would 
exist for such establishments in the inci- 
pient operations of freedom, both as a re- 
fuge for the peasantry, and for the general 
advantage of the country. 

The representation being partially given 
from memory, may not be so correct in 
some of its details as could have been de- 
sired ; but the object for which it is design- 
ed is to give a comprehensive view of the 
township as to its situation, appearance, 
and character. These remarks equally 
apply to the representation of Clarkson 
Town by which it is succeeded. 

The following; testimony was borne to 
the former a few months since by a medi- 
cal gentleman in a private communication 
to a friend in England : — " I visited Sligo- 
ville, and remained there a week. Every 
allotment of land is now sold, and many of 
the people are applying in vain for more. 
This township is in a very prosperous con- 
dition. The canes, provisions, and fruit, 
are equal, if not superior, to any in the 



* Named in honour of the Marquis Sligo, when 
Governor of Jamaica. 



island. Many of the settlers had not a 
penny when they came ; but they worked, 
and paid for the land by its produce. They 
have erected comfortable cottages, and are 
now living in perfect happiness, as far as 
human happiness can be perfect. They 
have no anxieties; and are eminently grate- 
ful, both to Christians who worked for, and 
to the God who gave them freedom." 

A sketch of Clarkson Town, with the 
circumstances attending its opening, may 
serve to convey a still more correct idea 
of the progress of social improvement 
throughout the country. 

This township is beautifully situated in 
the centre of a long valley or glade, form- 
ed by two ranges of mountains, rearing 
their summits to the clouds, and nearly 
meeting at their base. Beheld from a 
mountain pass immediately in the rear of 
the settlement, two or three sugar-estates 
are visible in the distance ; and beyond 
them, by an accommodation of the fore- 
ground to avoid obstruction from the trees 
which are in process of being cleared away, 
are seen the towns of Kingston and Port 
Royal ; whilst, as an additional element of 
interest and beauty in the picture, the ports 
disclose their shipping, and the harbour 
the small craft, that are perpetually skim- 
ming to and fro over its surface, with now 
and then a merchantman or man-of-war 
homeward or outward bound. 

The settlement is already of considera- 
ble extent, and is gradually increasing. 
The cottages are of comfortable size, con- 
taining about three rooms each, and are 
very substantially built. The v township 
contains at present but three principal 
streets, one of which, by an angle in its 
centre, is divided into two, named Victoria 
and Albert. Along these, leaving a piece 
of garden-ground in front, the cottages are 
ranged on either side, at equal distances. 

The interesting ceremony of opening the 
township took place on the 12th day of 
May, 1842. A considerable number of 
people were attracted by the occasion ; 
and, as its principal objects were to secure 
an opportunity of preaching the Gospel 
and administering advice, accommodation 
for a large auditory had been provided be- 
neath a cluster of old forest-trees, on the 
mountain-side, and in a situation which 
commanded a view of the whole settle- 
ment. It was a most romantic spot — the 
mountains forming an amphitheatre, cover- 



ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 



87 



ed with trees and shrubs of varied foliage 
and beauty, arresting the clouds as they 
floated along the sky, 

" With thicket overgrown, grotesque and wild, 
Access denied, and overhead up grew 
Insuperable heights of loftiest shade, 
Cedar and branching palm," 

whilst their sides, and the extended and 
lovely valley below, presented in beautiful 
contrast a garden reclaimed from the wide 
waste around by the arts of peaceful in- 
dustry. 

In consequence of the reverberation of 
sound along the narrow defile which the 
township occupies, a shout of the voice 
was all that was necessary to attract the 
company to the place of meeting. Ac- 
cordingly, at the appointed hour, the words, 
" Come to prayers," being vociferated two 
or three times by one of the most robust 
and active of the villagers, who ascended 
the summit of a detached hill for the pur- 
pose^ every individual in the settlement 
was seen wending his way to this rural 
sanctuary ; the aged and infirm supporting 
themselves on a staff, and others more 
vigorous climbing the steep ascent with 
quick and eager step : all, at the same 
time, with countenances that betokened 
the pleasure which such a summons had 
created. 

The pulpit was a rude table, covered 
with a white cloth, and situated close to 
the huge trunk of one of the group of trees 
already mentioned. The hearers were 
seated almost in semicircles on planks 
affixed to uprights placed in the ground, 
beneath the shade of the wide-spread 
branches, altogether presenting a most 
novel and interesting spectacle. 

The writer commenced the services, and 
delivered an address containing, as is usual 
on such occasions, advice on the subject 
of personal and relative duties, urging on 
all present the advantages of a conscientious 
and faithful discharge of them, both as 
evidences of their piety towards God, and 
as necessary causes of their temporal pros- 
perity and happiness. The Rev. Thomas 
Dowson preached an energetic and appro- 
priate discourse, relating, in an especial 
manner, to the spiritual interests of the 
hearers. The service was then closed by 
prayer and praise. 

These preliminary engagements being 
ended, the writer proceeded to the cere- 
mony of naming the town, and accord- 



ingly proposed its being called " Clarkson 
Town," in honour of the celebrated phi- 
lanthropist of that name, to whose long 
and untiring efforts on behalf of the Afri- 
can race the great boon of emancipation 
was mainly to be attributed, detailing 
some of the difficulties this venerable man 
had to encounter, and the sacrifices he was 
called to make, in the prosecution of his 
arduous work, deducing from the whole his 
pre-eminent claim to their most grateful 
remembrance. 

This address was received with cordial 
responses, and the designation, " Clarkson 
Town," by men, women, and children 
united, resounded throughout the valley. 
" The venerable Clarkson, and his asso- 
ciates in the great work of securing liberty 
to the slave ! May they live to hear of 
still greater triumphs of their philanthropy ! 
May they persevere in their benevolent 
efforts until slavery and the slave-trade 
shall perish in every land ; and may they 
be at last crowned with immortal honour 
and happiness in heaven !" was repeated 
by the crowd with the greatest enthusiasm, 
and followed by loud and long-continued 
cheering. 

A statement of the circumstances which 
led to the establishment of the township, 
together with the leading incidents which 
had hitherto marked its history, was then 
read : an extract from which, designed 
especially to show the advantages of its 
locality, is here subjoined. 

" Although the settlement is at present 
small and insignificant, it is probable it 
may soon become of considerable magni- 
tude and importance, as a plan is con- 
ceived of cutting a canal from a little above 
Kingston harbour to the foot of the moun- 
tains near which the town is located — a 
design which, if executed, will be of almost 
inconceivable advantage to the estates in 
the neighbourhood, bring a vast tract of 
land into cultivation now abandoned in 
morass, afford facilities for the conveyance 
of produce from the adjoining parishes, 
and thereby increase cultivation in them 
to an extent hitherto unprecedented. 

" May this infant township rise under 
the blessing of Almighty God, and may 
its inhabitants, to the most distant poste- 
rity, united in bonds of Christian love and 
fellowship, be as one family, with one 
feeling to prompt and one principle to 
| govern !" 



88 



JAMAICA : 



This part of the ceremony concluded, 
the writer proceeded to name the streets of 
the town, and arriving at the most conve- 
nient part of the principal street, he pre- 
faced the designation by a short address, 
congratulating the peasantry on their loy- 
alty to their sovereign, in desiring the as- 
sociation of Her Majesty's name and that 
of her Royal consort (a general case in all 
the new townships) with their social pros- 
perity and happiness. And on his saying 
aloud, " I name this street « Victoria,' in 
honour of our beloved sovereign, by whose 
gracious will and pleasure the great boon 
of freedom was bestowed upon you and 
your children," all united in loud and suc- 
cessive cheers, followed by singing in 
chorus two or three verses of the National 
Anthem. The circumstances attending 
the naming of the street in honour of 
Prince Albert were similar, as were also 
those which accompanied the naming of 
the remainder, among which was " Gurney 
Street," in remembrance of Joseph J. Gur- 
ney, Esq., who, as described in his ' Win- 
ter in the West Indies, in 1841,' visited the 
settlement, and was delighted both with its 
appearance, and the manners, intelligence, 
and hospitality of the people.* 

At the conclusion of the business of the 
day the two ministers who conducted the 
ceremonies, together with the friends who 
accompanied them, retired loaded with 
caresses and followed by benedictions until 
the interesting spot had vanished from their 
sight. The writer could not help specula- 
ting, as he paced the winding solitary 
ascent to his home, on the emotions of 
which the venerable Clarkson and his 
noble coadjutors in the cause of African 
liberty would have been the subjects had 
they but witnessed the scene — had they 
beheld the activity and light-heartedness 
manifested both by young and old, from 
the earliest dawn of day. Had they heard 
their mutual salutations — their hearty 
cheers and enthusiastic benedictions on the 
instruments of their deliverance from tem- 
poral and spiritual bondage ! Had they 
but seen the evidences of their industry 
and providence — of their contentment and 
happiness — these noble-minded men and 
women would have required no other re- 
compense, they could have desired no 
higher honour. Nor will their names or 



Winter in the West Indies, p. 116. 



their deeds ever be forgotten — they will 
descend to succeeding generations em- 
balmed in the grateful recollection of the 
whole posterity of Ham, when the memo- 
rials of the tyrants that oppressed them 
shall have perished. 

The number of similar settlements that 
have been established since the period of 
emancipation, and the extent of such free- 
holds, is almost incredible. It is difficult 
at present to ascertain the precise number 
of either, but on a rough calculation the 
villages can scarcely be estimated at fewer 
than from 150 to 200, or the number of 
acres of land purchased at less than 
100,000. Equally imperfect must be any 
general statistics respecting them. As 
nearly as can be ascertained, the number 
of heads of families who have purchased 
land is about 10,000,* and the number of 
cottages erected about 3000. The amount 
paid for land thus purchased is estimated 
at 70,000/., and the value of the houses 
100,000/., thus making the total cost of 
land purchased by the peasantry in the 
course of four years, and of cottages 
erected by them, 170,000/. 

The names which these simple-minded 
villagers attach to their unpretending 
dwellings, though a trifling incident, is not 
without interest, as one of the lighter indi- 
cations of their progress in social taste and 
improvement. A specimen of these is 
here given. 



Victoria 
Comfort Castle 



Happy Home 
Content 



* As a proof that the above calculation is not ex- 
aggerated, an extract from a speech delivered, in the 
House of Commons, March 22, 1842, by Lord Stan- 
ley (the present Colonial Secretary), is here inserted : 
— " The next statement he (Lord Stanley) would read 
to the House, was by a Stipendiary Magistrate. He 
said it would appear wonderful how so much had 
been accomplished in the island, in building, plant- 
ing, and digging, and making fences, without a ces- 
sation of labour on the part of the population. The 
reason was, that the emancipation from bondage to 
new hopes, new desires, and new responsibilities, 
strengthened the exertions of the negro, and enabled 
him to labour in his own plantation, and to spare 
time to labour in the plantations of others. And to 
that statement was attached a most singular docu- 
ment, which showed the number in one parish, not of 
those who had landed possessions, but of those who 
had entered their names as being the owners of pro- 
perty liable to taxation, and who had stated their wil- 
lingness as free men to bear their proportion of the 
public imposts. In that parish, in 1836, there were 
317 names; in 1840, 1321; and in 1841, 1866: and 
the number of freeholders, who had become free- 
holders by their accumulations and industry in the 
island of Jamaica, was in 1838, 2114; and in the 
space of two years, in 1840, their number had in- 
creased to 7340." 



ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 



89 



Pleasant Hill 
Happy Wood 
Occasion Call* 
Envy Not 
Albert 

Thankful Hill 
Good Hope 
Happiness 
Save Rent 
Heart's Love 
Adelaide 
Happy Hill 
Campbell's Delight 
Thank God to see it 
Happy Retreat 
A Little of n>y Own 



Industry 
Canaan 
Mount Zion 
Happy Hut 
Free Come 
Happy Grove 
Content my Own 
Jane's Delight 
Paradise 
Come See 
Fisherman's Home 
Freedom 
Liberty Content 
Comfortable Garden 
You no come 1 no got 
Pleasant Farm 



Among the appellations by which the 
villages themselves are distinguished are 
the following : — 



Victoria 




Normanby 


Vale Lionel 




Buxton 


Gurney 




Albert 


Sligoville 




Clarkson 


Brougham 




Sturge 


Adelaide 




Wilberforce 


Macauley 




Harvey 


Thompson. 






As an e\ 


'idence 


of the improvement 



which has taken place, the decencies of 
society are no longer outraged by insuffi- 
cient and filthy apparel. Seldom, indeed, 
is an individual seen, especially on the 
Sabbath, except in the most becoming 
attire, — in every respect as good as that 
worn by persons of the same class during 
thesummer in England. The dress of the 
women generally consists of a printed or 
white cotton gown, with a white handker- 
chief tied in a turban-like manner round 
their heads, and a neat straw hat trimmed 
with white ribbon ; while some, especially 
the young women, wear straw bonnets 
and white muslin dresses. This improve- 
ment has extended itself, not simply to the 
mere article of dress, but also to its condi- 
tion. It is uniformly distinguished for its 
cleanliness, whilst the economy with which 
it is preserved in a climate where, from 
insects and other causes, it is so liable to 
destruction, is truly remarkable. 




[Female Negro Peasant in her 

On occasions when their best garments 
are to be worn, such as on the Sabbath, 
at funerals, at meetings of friendship, and 
during the public holidays, they are car- 
ried to the spot by each individual respec- 

* Becase him have 'casion. On asking a good man 
who had given this designation to his freehold its 
meaning, he replied— "If any person have business 
wid me, him can come in ; but if him don't want me 
in pottickler, me no wants him company, and him no 
'casion to come." 

t " If you don't come to trouble me, I don't go to 
trouble you." 



Sunday and Working Dress.] 

tively in a basket on the head, and no 
sooner does the occasion cease than they 
are as carefully replaced in the basket, 
cleaned, and consigned to the family chest. 
Contrary to the prevailing opinion in Eng- 
land, the taste of the females is no longer 
characterized by the love of gaudy colours. 
From the circumstances in which they 
have been placed, it can scarcely be ex- 
pected that the qualities by which the 
female sex is so conspicuously adorned in 
Britain should be equally displayed by 



90 



JAMAICA : 



these daughters of Ethiopia. Modesty, a 
sense of shame, together with a refined 
and delicate sensibility, are however be- 
coming increasingly apparent. 

The savage custom of impaling and eat- 
ing reptiles and unclean animals no longer 
exists. Polygamy is now highly disreputa- 
ble, and is universally regarded not only 
as sinful, but as subversive of social in- 
terests and domestic happiness ; nor less so 
are concubinage and general licentious- 
ness. Since the celebration of marriage 
by missionaries of all denominations has 
been legalized — which right was conceded 
to dissenters in general by an Act passed 
by the Colonial Legislature on the 2d of 
December, 1840 — the ceremony has be- 
come so common as to be an almost daily 
occurrence. Out of a population of 420,000, 
not fewer than 14,840 marriages have taken 
place annually since that period, being a 
proportion of one in 29 : indeed, every- 
where marriage is now the rule, and con- 
cubinage the exception.* 

Their ideas of the marriage state are 
entirely changed. It is now associated 
with everything virtuous and honourable 
in human conduct. It is by no means un- 
common, when a married man is charged 
with inconsistency and sin of any kind, 
that surprise should be expressed on the 
ground of having entered into that rela- 
tion ; while those who worthily discharge 
its duties and obligations are invariably re- 
garded as individuals deserving the highest 
respect and esteem. 

In some districts, the circumstances 
under which a newly-married pair return 
to the plantation or a newly-formed village 
are peculiarly interesting; nearly all the 
inhabitants, together with friends and ac- 
quaintances from the neighbourhood, go 
out to meet them attired in their best gar- 
ments, and forming themselves into two 
parallel lines, through which the bride and 
bridegroom, with their attendants, pass, 
shake them heartily by the hand, and in- 
voke a thousand blessings on their union. 
In other instances, no sooner is the ap- 
proach of the party announced than they 
are immediately surrounded, and the ear 
is filled with the clamour of congratulation. 
The first appearance of a negro pair at the 
House of God after the ceremony, usually 
presents an interesting scene. " God bless 

* See Candler's Journal, p. 23. 



you, my sister, my broder, my friend ! me 
wish you much joy !" accompanied by 
other external signs of sympathy which 
none but the negro race can so eloquently 
and beautifully express, are uttered in con- 
cert by multitudes of voices. 

Nor are the principles by which the con- 
jugal, parental, and filial relations are sus- 
tained, either imperfectly understood or 
faintly developed. 

Mutual harmony and tenderness, every 
mild virtue and soft endearment, which 
gives to home its solace and its charm, is 
now to be seen in lovely exercise in many 
a negro family. Comparatively humble as 
are their thatched and mud-walled cottages, 
they are associated in the minds of their 
sable tenants with pleasures that never 
cloy, and which leave neither stain nor 
sting behind. "Many a family presents 
a group worthy of the painter's pencil and 
the poet's song — a scene to excite the pa- 
triot's hope and the Christian's joy — a 
scene which ministering spirits view with 
high complacency, and a living sanctuary 
where the promised presence of the Saviour 
dwells." Amidst the stillness of a Sabbath 
evening, after their return from the House 
of God, often is such a family seen sitting 
beneath the shadow of the trees which 
overhang their cottage, engaged in singing 
a hymn or in listening to the reading of the 
Scriptures, or religious tracts, " none dar- 
ing to make them afraid." 

" Embosomed in his home 
He shares the frugal meal with those he loves ; 
With those he loves he shares the heartfelt joy 
Of giving thanks to God." 

A surprising improvement is apparent in 
the manners and intercourse of the people 
at large. They no longer exhibit their 
former uncouth address and their sullen 
aspect and carriage, but are respectful to 
their superiors, graceful in their manners, 
and social in their dispositions. They 
never fail to return an act of civility even 
to a stranger on the public road, though 
they may be groaning beneath the heaviest 
burdens, and seldom are they known to 
offer an insult except under circumstances 
of great provocation. 

Towards each other they manifest a 
politeness and respect sometimes approach- 
ing to extravagance. The lowest of the 
peasantry seldom meet without exchanging 
salutations, accompanied in general by mu- 
tual inquiries after the health of each other's 



ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 



91 



families. This practice is so general that 
among friends its accidental violation has 
often led to unpleasant consequences when 
not followed by an apology. Gratitude 
for favours received, respect for old age, 
love of offspring, generous compassion for 
the distressed, ardent and disinterested 
friendship, have, by the most prejudiced 
writers, been universally acknowledged to 
be redeeming qualities of the African char- 
acter ; qualities the developement of which 
is daily becoming increasingly manifest. 

However justly the charge of indolence 
and improvidence was formerly brought 
against the peasantry of Jamaica, it is now 
no longer of general application. 

The term indolent can only be applied 
to the black population in the absence of 
remunerating employment. But even then 
they labour in their own provision grounds. 
Jamaica peasants loitering along the roads, 
— associated in groups in their villages for 
the purpose of idle gossip, — lounging about 
their residences, — or spending their time 
and money at taverns or places of similar 
resort, are seldom to be found. 

On returning from their daily labour the 
men almost uniformly employ themselves 
in cultivating their own grounds or in im- 
proving their own little freeholds, and the 
women in culinary and other domestic pur- 
poses until driven to their frugal repast 
and to repose by darkness and fatigue. As 
to the great bulk of the people, making 
allowance for the influence of climate, no 
peasantry in the world can display more 
cheerful and persevering industry. These 
facts have not only been confirmed by mis- 
sionaries and disinterested men throughout 
the island, as well as by Messrs. Gurney, 
Candler, and other philanthropic and highly 
respectable travellers, but by the public 
journals of the colonists themselves,— 
journals which are considered the organs 
of the most respectable portion both of the 
commercial and agricultural communities. 
The editor of the Jamaica Morning Jour- 
nal, a high authority, so lately as the 17th 
of February of the present year, thus 
speaks : — 

" The colony remains in that quiescent 
condition which is so favourable to im- 
provement, and it is gratifying to observe, 
as the result of this state of things, the im- 
petus which has been given to the agricul- 
tural societies, and the formation of literary 
ones. We do not recollect ever to have 



seen such vigorous efforts put forth for the 
improvement of the people and of agricul- 
ture as have been within the last few 
months. 

" Except as to the want of labourers, 
we have no complaints ; and, whether re- 
garded socially or politically, the state of 
Jamaica at present is as favourable as 
could be desired by the most ardent lover 
of peace and quiet. The planters are 
looking forward to large crops, and are 
cheered by the hope that they will yet be 
enabled to recover themselves from the 
almost ruinous effects of the late drought." 
The evidence of Sir Charles Metcalfe 
from various circumstances will be re- 
garded as important and decisive. It is 
contained in a despatch to Lord Stanley, 
and read by the Secretary for the Colonies 
in the House of Commons on the 22d of 
March, 1842. Six years after the passing 
of the Emancipation Act, and at the end 
of the second year of Sir Charles Met- 
calfe's government, he said, " The present 
condition of the peasantry in Jamaica is 
very striking. He did not suppose that 
any peasantry had so many comforts, or 
so much independence. Their behaviour 
was peaceable, and in some respects cheer- 
ful. They were found to attend divine 
service in good clothes, many of them 
riding on horses. They sent their chil- 
dren to school, and paid for their school- 
ing, and not only attended the churches 
of their different communities, but sub- 
scribed for their respective churches. Their 
piety teas remarkable ; and he was happy 
to add, that in some respects they deserved 
what they had. They were generally well 
ordered and free from crime, had much 
improved in their habits, and were constant 
in their attendance on divine worship 
themselves, and in the attendance of their 
children, and were willing to pay the ex- 
penses.'''' 

The following graphic description of 
the prosperous condition of Jamaica, by 
J. J. Gurney, Esq., will not only form an 
appropriate conclusion to the present chap- 
ter, but at the same time illustrate and con- 
firm its statements :— « The imports of the 
island are rapidly increasing; trade im- 
proving ; the towns thriving ; new villages 
rising up in every direction ; property much 
enhanced in value ; well-managed estates 
productive and profitable ; expenses of ma- 
nagement diminished ; short methods of 



92 



JAMAICA 



labour adopted ; provisions cultivated on a 
larger scale than ever ; and the people, 
wherever they are properly treated, indus- 
trious, contented, and gradually accumu- 
lating wealth. Above all, education is 
rapidly spreading; the morals of the com- 
munity improving; crime is in many dis- 
tricts disappearing ; and Christianity as- 
serting her sway with vastly augmented 
force over the mass of the population. 
Cease from all attempts to oppose the cur- 
rent of justice and mercy — remove every 
obstruction to the fair and full working of 
freedom — and the bud of Jamaica's pros- 
perity, already fragrant and vigorous, will 
soon burst into a glorious flower."* 

"Say what avail'd, till Freedom's heav'nly band 
Deign'd to revisit this forsaken land, 
That spicy forests here their burthens bear, 
And the rich pine perfumes its native air, 
That, void and sapless in less favour'd fields, 
Here the full reed divine ambrosia yields ; 
For long her fate the hapless island wept, 
Whilst o'er her plains the Hydra slavery swept ; 
From shore to shore the growing ruin spread, 
And Justice died, and Mercy, frighten'd, fled. 
Till Freedom bade at length these horrors cease, 
And call'd to joy, and brotherhood, and peace. 
Oh, think, late lords of slaves, what numbers groan 
In all the pangs from which you freed your own ; 
Think too, late bondsmen, and with pity melt, 
How millions feel what you have felt!" 



CHAPTER XIV. 



MOHAL STATE AND ASPECTS OF SOCIETY. 

Different Tribes of Africans— Peculiar Characteris- 
tics of each — Immoral Tendency of their Amuse- 
ments — Funerals — Superstitions — Characteristic 
Vices — Contrast presented by the present State of 
Things — Description of a Funeral as now con- 
ducted — Causes of the late partial Revival of Obe- 
ism and JVJyalism — Decrease of Crime. 

Section I. — Imported, as the slaves 
originally were, from such an immense 
continent as that of Africa, the regions 
whence they were supplied extending 2000 
miles from north to south, and 600 from 
east to west, inhabited by various nations 

* It is delightful to add that this state of things con- 
tinues to the present time ; a fact confirmed by the 
testimony of the present Governor, the Earl of Elgin, 
in a reply to an address presented to him when per- 
forming a tour of the Island, dated Lucea, April 8, 
1843: — " I have observed with much gratification the 
periect cordiality which subsists between all classes 
and denominations of Her Majesty's subjects in the 
island ; and, large as were my expectations, they have 
been surpassed by the beauty and fertility of the 
country." 



differing materially from each other in 
civilization, religion, manners, and cus- 
toms, it may be inferred that their tempers 
and dispositions would also vary accord- 
ing to the circumstances of the tribe or 
nation to which they belonged. The most 
distinguished of the tribes brought into the 
colony were the Mandingoes, the Foulahs, 
and others, from the banks of the Senegal, 
the Gambia, and the Rio Grande; the 
Whidahs or Papaws, the Eboes, the Con- 
goes, the Angolas, the Coromantees, and 
the Mocoes, from Upper and Lower Guinea. 
The Mandingoes, the Whidahs, and the 
Congoes, are said, in general, to have been 
docile, civil, obliging, and peaceable, in 
their natural tempers and dispositions ; but 
effeminate both in body and mind, and but 
ill able to endure the sufferings and toils 
of slavery. The Eboes are described as 
crafty, frugal, disputative, and avaricious ; 
also as haughty, fierce, and stubborn; often 
manifesting a spirit of despondency, which 
not unfrequently urged them to the com- 
mission of suicide. Many of the Angolas 
and Mocoes are said to have been canni- 
bals. The Coromantees, the inhabitants 
of the Gold Coast and its vicinity, are re- 
presented as " possessing all the worst 
passions of which imbruted humanity is 
susceptible," — the tribe that had generally 
been at the head of all insurrections, and 
the original and parent stock of the Ma- 
roons : characteristics which, it is proba- 
ble, were to a considerable degree the re- 
sult of their condition, rather than of their 
nature. Their aggregate character when 
amalgamated into one society, under the 
influence of slavery, is thus described by 
an historian as the result of personal know- 
ledge and observation: — " In their tempers 
they are, in general, irascible, conceited, 
proud, indolent, lascivious, credulous, and 
very artful. They are excellent dissem- 
blers and skilful flatterers. They possess 
good-nature, and sometimes, but rarely, 
gratitude. Their memory soon loses the 
traces of favours conferred on them, but 
faithfully retains a sense of injuries; this 
sense is so poignant that they have been 
known to dissemble their hatred for many 
years until an opportunity has presented 
of retaliation." " A debasement of all the 
mental faculties, and the destruction of 
every honourable principle," says another 
author, " seems to be the never-failing 
consequence of slavery; so that even the 



ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 



most high-spirited and courageous negro 
becomes, after remaining a few years in 
slavery, cunning, cowardly, and, to a cer- 
tain degree, malevolent. The general dis- 
position of the negroes in Jamaica, there- 
fore, but to which there are some excep- 
tions, may safely be asserted to be thievish, 
lazy, and dissimulating." 

""Hytt/a-u yag t' ugsTHC st.7rociivvntt tv^uoiret Zsuc 

'AVifOS, EUT"' £v fJI.IV X.a.TO. ioVXIOV YtTTdLg 6A»(7<V."* 

Hom. Od., lib. 17, v. 322. 

Section II. — Their nightly dances or 
plays, which were frequent and general, 
were of a character the most licentious. 
They were usually accompanied by a band 
of the most rude and monotonous music, 
composed of instruments of African manu- 
facture. The assemblage on such occa- 
sions consisted of both sexes, who ranged 
themselves in a circle round a male and 
female dancer, and performed to the music 
of their drums. 

The songs were sung by the other fe- 
males of the party ; one alternately sing- 
ing, while her companions repeated in 
chorus; the singers and dancers observing 
the exactest precision as to time and mea- 
sure. On some occasions the dance con- 
sisted of stamping the feet, accompanied 
by various contortions of the body, with 
strange and indecent attitudes : on others, 
the head of each dancer was erect, or oc- 
casionally inclined forward ; the hands 
nearly united in front ; the elbows fixed, 
pointing from the sides ; and the lower ex- 
tremities being held firm, the whole person 
was moved without raising the feet from 
the ground. Making the head and limbs 
fixed points, they writhed and turned the 
body upon its own axis, slowly advancing 
towards each other, or retreating to the 
outer part of the circumference. Their 
approaches to each other, and the attitudes 
and inflexions in which they were made, 
were highly indecent, the performers being 
nearly naked. On public holidays, parti- 
cularly those of Christmas, which, in some 
respects, resembled the Roman feasts of 
the Saturnalia, or rather the wild festivals 
of Africa, the scenes were oftentimes too 
disgusting to be looked upon. On such 
occasions each of the African tribes upon 
the different estates formed itself into a 



* The day unblest which first sees man a slave 
Hobs him of half the worth that nature gave. 



distinct party, composed of men, women, 
and children. Each party had its King or 
Queen, who was distinguished by a mask 
of the most hideous appearance, and attired 
from head to foot in gaudy harlequin-like 
apparel. They paraded or gambolled in 
their respective neighbourhoods, dancing 
to the rude music, which was occasionally 
drowned by the most hideous yells from 
the whole party by way of chorus. The 
following is a specimen of the airs sung by 
the negroes on such occasions : — 



233 



imm 



L-f-^-tx-r- 



?ig£sfSpI£§Ei 



In the towns, such processions were pre- 
ceded by a tall athletic man, attired in the 
same grotesque habiliments, in addition to 
which he wore a most hideous head-dress, 
surmounted by a pair of ox-horns, while 
from the lower part of the mask large boar- 
tusks protruded. This hero of the party 
was called John Connu, after the name of 
a celebrated African at Axim on the coast 
of Guinea, with whom the practice is sup- 
posed to have originated. He bore in his 
hand a large wooden sword which he oc- 
casionally brandished, accompanying its 
evolutions by a thousand fantastic freaks. 
Several companions were associated with 
him as musicians, beating banjas and tom- 
toms, blowing cow-horns, shaking a hard 
round black seed, called Indian shot, in a 
calabash, and scraping the bones of ani- 
mals together, which, added to the vocife- 
rations of the crowd, filled the air with the 
most discordant sounds. They were chiefly 
followed by children and disreputable wo- 
men, the latter frequently supplying the 
performers with intoxicating drinks. Being 
generally encouraged, they paraded the 
streets, and exhibited themselves in private 
houses, for whole days and nights succes- 
sively ; and in consequence of the violent 
exercise, the drunkenness, and other ex- 
cesses in which they indulged, multitudes 
of them annually fell a prey to sickness 
and death. 

On a New Year's Day sets of young 
women, or dancing girls, often elegantly 
dressed, and distinguished as reds and 
blues, or according to the colour of the 



94 



JAMAICA : 



riband worn by them as a badge, went from 
house to house of what were called the 
respectable inhabitants, and danced for 
voluntary gifts. The conduct of all parties 
on some of these occasions was disgraceful 
to humanity, while the dress of each indi- 
vidual of the sets being furnished in many 
cases by her owner, the profits of these ex- 
cesses were shared between them. 

Section III. — Their practices at fune- 
rals were unnatural and revolting in a high 
degree. No sooner did the spirit depart 
from the body of a relative or friend, 
than the most wild and frantic gesticula- 
tions were manifested, accompanied by the 
beating of drums and the singing of songs. 
When on the way with the corpse to inter- 
ment, the bearers, who were often intoxi- 
cated, practised the most strange and 
ridiculous manoeuvres. They would some- 
times make a sudden halt, put their ears in 
a listening attitude against the coffin, pre- 
tending that the corpse was endued with 
the gift of speech — that he was angry and 
required to be appeased, gave instructions 
for a different distribution of his property, 
objected to his mode of conveyance, or re- 
fused to proceed farther towards the place 
of burial until some debts due to him were 
discharged, some slanderous imputation on 
his charracter removed, some theft con- 
fessed, or until they (the bearers) were 
presented with renewed potations of rum : 
and the more effectually to delude the mul- 
titude, and thereby enforce their claims, to 
some of which they were often instigated 
by the chief mourners, they would pretend 
to answer the questions of the deceased, 
echo his requirements, run back with the 
coffin upon the procession, or jerk with it 
from side to side of the road ; not unfre- 
quently, and under the most trivial pre- 
tence, they would leave the corpse at the 
door or in the house of a debtor or neigh- 
bour indiscriminately, and resist every im- 
portunity for its removal, until his pretended 
demands were satisfied. 

On estates these ceremonies were gener- 
ally performed in a manner which was, if 
possible, still more revolting. They took 
place at night by the light of torches, 
amidst drumming, dancing, singing, drunk- 
enness, and debauchery. The coffin was 
usually supported on the heads of two 
bearers, proceeded by a man carrying a 
white flag, and followed by the intoxicated 



multitude. They went to each house of 
the negro village ostensibly to " take leave," 
but really for exaction and fraud. " The 
following air," says Mr. Barclay, "I have 
heard sung by the heathen slaves at their 
funerals, and probably African. To me it 
appeared strikingly wild and melancholy, 
associated as it is in my mind with such 
recollections, and heard for the first time 
sung by savages interring their dead at the 
midnight hour." 




The corpse being deposited in the grave 
and partially covered with earth, the atten- 
dants completed the burial (for a time) by 
casting the earth behind them, to prevent 
the deceased from following them home. 
The last sad offices were usually closed by 
sacrifices of fowls and other domestic ani- 
mals, which were torn to pieces and scat- 
tered over the grave, together with copious 
libations of blood and other ingredients, 
accompanted at the same time with the 
most violent and extravagant external signs 
of sorrow ; they stamped their feet, tore 
their hair, beat their breast, vociferated, 
and manifested the most wild and frantic 
gestures. No sooner, however, did the 
party return to the house of their relatives 
and friends than every sign of sadness 
vanished ; " the drums resounded with a 
livelier beat, the song grew more animated, 
dancing and festivity commenced, and the 
night was spent in riot and debauchery." 
Were the deceased a female, the reputed 
husband for about a month afterwards was 
negligent in his person and dress. At the 
close of this period he proceeded with some 
of his friends to the grave with several 
articles of food, and sung a song congratu- 
lating the deceased on her enjoyment of 
complete happiness. This was supposed 
to terminate their mutual obligations. Each 



ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 



95 



of the party then expressed his wishes of 
remembrance to his kindred, repeated bene- 
dictions on his family, promised soon to 
return to them, repeated promises to take 
care of her children, and bade the deceased 
an affectionate farewell. An additional 
quantity of earth was now thrown over the 
grave, and the party partook of the repast 
they had provided, concluding the cere- 
mony with dancing, singing, and vocifera- 
tion, regarding death as a welcome relief 
from the calamities of life, and a passport 
to the never-to-be-forgotten scenes of their 
nativity. 

Not only were the negroes the subjects 
of great superstitious credulity, but super- 
stition itself in its most disgusting forms 
prevailed among them to a very great ex- 
tent. Dark and magical rites, numberless 
incantations, and barbarous customs, were 
continually practised. The principal of 
these were Obeism, Myalism, and Fetish- 
ism ; and such was their influence upon 
the general mind, that they were accom- 
panied by all the terrors that the dread of 
a malignant being and the fear of unknown 
evil could invest them. 

Obeism was a species of witchcraft em- 
ployed to revenge injuries, or as a protec- 
tion against theft, and is so called from 
Obi, the town, city, district, or province of 
Africa where it originated. It consisted 
in placing a spell or charm near the cot- 
tage of the individual intended to be brought 
under its influence, or when designed to 
prevent the depredations of thieves, in some 
conspicuous part of the house or on a tree ; 
it was signified by a calabash or gourd 
containing, among other ingredients, a 
combination of different coloured rags, cat's 
teeth, parrot's feathers, toad's feet, egg- 
shells, fish bones, snake's teeth, and lizards' 
tails.* Terror immediately seized the in- 

* Another part of the vile art was to cause the 
death of victims by pretending to catch their shadows, 
or holding them spell-bound, as within a magic cir- 
cle. By the slave-law it was punishable by death. 
The following is a description of it as given by a 
witness on a trial that took place some years ago: 

'• Do you know the prisoner to be an Obeah man ? 

Ees, Massa, shadow-catcher true. 

What do you mean by shadow-catcher? 

Him heb coffin — [a little coffin was here produced] 
— his set fo catch dem shadow. 

What shadow do you mean ? 

When him set Obeah for somebody him catch dem 
shadow, and dem go dead." 

Its nature was thus graphically explained to a gen- 
tleman by a negro whom he interrogated respecting 
it : — " If you want what cure it cure, if you want what 
kill it kill, massa." 



dividual who beheld it, and either by resign- 
ing himself to despair, or by the secret 
communication of poison, in most cases 
death was the inevitable consequence. 
Similar to the influence of this superstition 
was that of their solemn curses pronounced 
upon thieves, but which it would be too 
tedious to detail. 

Myalism, as well as Fetishism, were 
constituent parts of Obeism, and included 
a mystery of iniquity which perhaps was 
never fully revealed to the uninitiated. 
The votaries of this art existed as a fra- 
ternity composed of individuals from the 
surrounding neighbourhood, who were re- 
gularly inducted into it in accordance with 
certain demoniacal forms. They adopted 
every possible means to increase their num- 
bers, and proposed, as the advantages of 
membership, exemption from pain and pre- 
mature death ; from death, especially as 
designed by white men ; or certain re- 
covery from its influence when life was 
actually extinct. It was understood to 
counteract the effect of Obeism, but was 
often much more demoralizing and fatal in 
its results. The master of the ceremonies, 
who was usually denominated Doctor, by 
violent and excessive dancing, as well as 
by the use of poisonous drugs, deprived his 
victims of sensibility, and apparently of 
life; and when, by the use of medicinal 
herbs, he had restored them to their for- 
mer condition, pretended that he had done 
so by extracting pieces of glass bottle, 
snakes, and other Obeah ingredients and 
reptiles from their skin.* A miraculous 
cure was hereby supposed to have been 
effected, and contributions were liberally 
awarded to the magician; seldom, how- 
ever, did the constitution of the patient re- 
cover from the effects of the experiment. 
A Cew years since there was scarcely an 
estate which did not contain a priest or 
priestess of this deadly art, nor did there 
appear to be a single negro whose mind 
was not more or less under its influence. 

The circumstances attending the Fetish 
oath, which was a pledge of inviolable se- 
crecy, and usually administered previously 
to insurrections or individual murders, was 
terrible. Blood was drawn from each in- 
dividual of the party present; this was 



* The author once saw a negro suffering from a 
gum-boil, who persisted in affirming that the Myal 
Doctor had extracted a snake from the affected part. 



96 



JAMAICA 



mixed with grave-dirt and gunpowder in a 
bowl, and was partaken of by each indi- 
vidual in the secret as a ratification of his 
sincerity. 



Section IV. — In general both sexes 
were much addicted to drunkenness. The 
African parent even brought up his children 
to this destructive vice from their earliest 
infancy, while nurses administered rum to 
infants as soon as they were born. In 
some cases the practice of drinking ardent 
spirits was as much distinguished for its 
filthiness and economy, as it was for its 
moral turpitude, a single dram being often 
made to gratify the taste of a whole 
family. 

To swearing they were awfully addicted. 
Not only did they profane the sacred name 
of God in common conversation or in the 
fury of malignant passion, but whenever 
they were afflicted or sustained any loss in 
the produce of their grounds by unpro- 
pitious seasons or any awful visitation of 
Divine Providence. On all such occasions 
did they accuse the Divine Being of parti- 
ality, and lift up their voices against him 
in blasphemy. Games of hazard with the 
dice, and gambling of almost every descrip- 
tion, together with cock-fighting, and va- 
rious gymnastic games, were almost uni- 
versal. 

Moral honesty, or a conscientious re- 
gard to truth, was not only unknown, but 
unlooked for; no one expected his neigh- 
bour to tell the truth, or to be upright in 
his dealings, any further than suited his 
convenience or interest; even parents ed- 
ucated their children in all the arts of dis- 
simulation, fraud, and perfidy. "Which 
way did Fox run ?" said an overseer to a 
negro boy, when in pursuit of a slave who 
had escaped from punishment. The boy 
pointed to a thicket in which the fugitive 
had eluded the grasp of his pursuer. On 
returning home the overseer was attracted 
by the shrieks of a child under severe 
punishment, and which proceeded from the 
negro village. Curiosity urged him to the 
spot, and on looking through the crevices 
of a negro hut, he saw the boy to whom 
he had just addressed himselfsuspended by 
his heels, writhing and moaning beneath 
the heavy chastisement inflicted on him by 
his mother, who repeated, during the inter- 
vals of the strokes, " Next time buckra ax 



you which side neger run, you tell him me 
no know, massa." The overseer is said 
to have repeatedly put the boy to the test 
afterwards, but could never get the truth 
from him again. From these causes many, 
as they grow up, were unable to distinguish 
between truth and falsehood in the com- 
mon occurrences of life. Truth, indeed, 
was designated in negro parlance " telling 
lies to buckra." A boy belonging to an es- 
tate-school brought up a school-fellow to 
his teacher for punishment on the charge 
of his having " told a lie upon him." 
"What lie did he tell about you?" said 
the teacher. " Him tell driber me no turn 
out to work a mornin, sar." On investi- 
gation it was found that the charge was 
true, but the plaintiff persisted in his suit 
in spite of all the reasoning of the teacher, 
and thought injustice was done him because 
the defendant was not convicted and pun- 
ished ; a feeling in which all the other boys 
of the school, many of whom had assisted 
in bringing the accused forward, deeply 
sympathized. Hence it was difficult to ob- 
tain a correct answer from a negro on the 
most trifling subjects. Nor is it surprising 
that under these and other circumstances 
they should not fear an oath. Many, in- 
deed, had an idea that a false oath on 
" buckra's book," the Bible, would be at- 
tended by disastrous consequences, but 
protected themselves against them by con- 
cealing a small piece of silver coin — a 
broken rial — in their mouths as a charm. 
By multitudes, however, the most solemn 
oaths were no more regarded than a com- 
mon declaration. Thus, as one of the de 
moralizing effects of slavery, the whole 
population may be said to " have gone 
astray from the birth, speaking lies." 

With this deplorable lack of integrity 
and moral principle, added to the circum- 
stances of their servile condition, it may 
be supposed that theft was prominent in 
their catalogue of sins. Their views of 
theft were very similar to those which they 
entertained with regard to falsehood. Dep- 
redations on the property of an owner 
were considered justifiable — crimes only 
when committed among themselves. Of 
this the following anecdote is an illustra- 
tration : — " Me don't tief notin," said a 
negro who was detected by an overseer in 
the very act of stealing sugar — again and 
again protesting his innocence. " What 
do you mean, sir? haven't you got the 



ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 



97 



stolen property now in your possession ?" 
" But me don't tief it, me only take it, 
massa." " What do you mean by that ?" 
" As sugar belongs to massa, and myself 
belongs to massa, it all de same ting — dat 
make me tell massa me don't tief it ; me 
only take it." " What do you call thiev- 
ing, then?" " When me broke into broder 
house and ground, and take away him 
ting, den me tief, massa." 

To escape the miseries of slavery, as 
well as from a vain hope that they would 
then return to their own land, and mingle 
again with their kindred beneath the shade 
of the family tree, suicide was awfully 
prevalent. Indeed at one period to such an 
extent was this crime committed, that to 
counteract its influence the legislature en- 
acted a law that every one guilty of it 
should be hung in chains on the public 
roads till devoured by birds of prey. 



Section V. — It is time, however, to 
portray a brighter scene, and to awaken 
sympathies of a higher order. From causes 
hereafter to be detailed, this state of society, 
especially during the last twenty years, 
has been most astonishingly improved. 
That cunning, craft, and suspicion — those 
dark passions and savage dispositions be- 
fore described as characteristics of the ne- 
gro, if ever possessed in the degree in 
which they are attributed to them, — are 
now giving place to a noble, manly, and 
independent, yet patient and submissive spi- 
rit. They now feel themselves to be men, 
and not, as they had been taught to be- 
lieve, without any more claim to that dis- 
tinction than the beasts which perish. 
Whatever of truth there might once have 
been in the representation previously given 
of their tempers and dispositions, it no 
longer applies to them as a body. Al- 
though the subjects of ardent passions and 
feelings, it is allowed by every disinterest- 
ed observer that a more docile, kind-heart- 
ed, and generous people can scarcely be 
found. However justly or otherwise they 
may have been formerly chargeable with 
ingratitude, numberless cases have occur- 
red in which, towards those who have re- 
ally been their friends and benefactors, 
their gratitude has been found to be both 
general and excessive, as was strikingly 
evinced on the departures of Lord Sligo 
and Sir Lionel Smith from the island. 



The following sketch of the latter event 
will doubtless prove interesting. 

Although Sir Lionel was to leave the 
vice-regal residence at the hour of day- 
break in the morning, some hundreds of 
persons had collected full two hours pre- 
viously ; and at half-past five o'clock, 
when he stepped into his carriage, there 
could not have been less than 2000 pre- 
sent. They were collected principally at 
the entrance of the road along which his 
Excellency had to pass from the square. 

At the head of this immense mass was 
a large banner stretched across the street, 
bearing the inscription " Sir Lionel Smith, 
the Poor Man's Friend and Protector," 
whilst others, on which was inscribed " We 
Mourn the Departure of our Governor," 
and similar devices, were variously distri- 
buted throughout the line. 

The feelings of regret and veneration 
universally expressed on the approach of 
his Excellency were overpowering, and it 
was with the greatest difficulty that he and 
his attendants resisted the general deter- 
mination to convey him back again, all 
being apparently resolved that he should 
not leave them. For a considerable dis- 
tance the whole mass hung upon the car- 
riage, or ran beside it, until ready to faint 
with fatigue, uttering lamentations and in- 
voking blessings on his head. Mothers in 
almost every instance exhibited their in- 
fants as trophies — trophies of the blessings 
and advantages of freedom. Exclusively 
of the multitude thus congregated in the 
town, the road leading to the place of em- 
barkation, which extended a distance of 
six miles, was thronged with people. 

Interesting and affecting, however, as 
was the scene already beheld, that exhibit- 
ed on the arrival of the procession at Port 
Henderson was doubly so. Added to the 
number of people of all ranks and colours 
pouring into the village along the roads as 
far as the eye could reach, an immense 
number, nearly all of whom were in deep 
mourning, or wore black riband in some 
conspicuous part of their dress, had drawn 
themselves up in two parallel lines at the 
entrance, and as Sir Lionel and his corUge 
had proceeded to the middle of the lines 
the whole mass surrounded them, and de- 
claring that their " Governor and friend" 
should not leave them, began to effect their 
purpose, by taking the horses from the 
carriage to draw him back again to the 



98 



JAMAICA: 



seat of government. This determination 
being at length overruled, they then insist- 
ed on drawing him to the beach, as the last 
act of kindness they could show him. To 
avoid this, probably from the excitement it 
might occasion, the veteran alighted from 
his carriage, intending to walk the remain- 
der of the way. 

He was in a moment surrounded by the 
multitude, whose lamentations and other 
expressions of sorrow at his departure so 
completely overcame him and several of 
his attendants that they seemed scarcely 
able to proceed. As an evidence, indeed, 
if any were wanting, that the hero of a 
hundred battles had still a heart alive to 
sympathy, his deep emotion at length vent- 
ed itself by a torrent of tears. The effect 
of this was, as may be supposed, irresisti- 
ble — (a veteran warrior in tears !) — and the 
whole mass seemed to catch the contagion. 
At the same time the assembled multitude, 
now greatly augmented, had formed them- 
selves around him as an impenetrable bar- 
rier, as though determined he should not 
advance. After some expostulation and 
entreaty the mass gave way, and all moved 
on together to the beach, with all the 
solemnity and sorrow of a funeral proces- 
sion, in which some great benefactor was 
the object of regret. Arriving at the water's 
edge the scene became affecting beyond all 
description. The sobs of the multitude, 
hitherto half-stifled, now burst forth like a 
torrent ; and from the noble-minded object 
of all this affection downwards, throughout 
the whole mass, which included several 
officers and civilians of the highest distinc- 
tion in the colony, scarcely a dry eye was 
to be seen. As the boat receded from the 
shore Sir Lionel rallied sufficiently to bow 
to the assembled crowd, and cries and 
lamentations, intermingled with invoca- 
tions, followed him until he was out of 
hearing. 

Seldom has the eye witnessed a more 
affecting scene, and certainly never did a 
more popular Governor quit the shores of 
Jamaica. 

No people can exhibit greater tenderness 
of disposition, or more that is endearing in 
the various relationships of life, than do our 
black and coloured brethren. Their charac- 
ter is distinguished by some features un- 
usually amiable ; by a peculiar warmth of 
the social affections, and by a close adhe- 
rence to all the ties of kindred. 



Filial dutifulness and attachment are re- 
markable traits in their character, and 
sometimes manifest themselves in a way 
peculiarly touching. 

" What kind of a woman was your 
mother?" said a slave-master some years 
ago in a familiar mood to a fine African 
boy whom he had purchased. The boy's 
heart writhed beneath the associations it 
awakened. " Come, tell me," said the 
white man, who regarded the black man as 
a brute only fit to be insulted, " What kind 
of a woman was she? — Was she tall? — 
Was she thin? — Was she old? — Was she 
beautiful?" The boy lifted up his glisten- 
ing eyes, and in broken accents said, " How 
could a mother but be beautiful in the eyes 
of her child !" Maternal tenderness scarce- 
ly admits of an exception, and cases of in- 
fanticide are unknown. Lander, during 
his journey in Africa, frequently met with 
" mothers who carried about their persons 
little wooden images of their deceased in- 
fants, to whose lips they presented a por- 
tion of food whenever they partook of it 
themselves, and nothing could induce them 
to part with these inanimate memorials." 

In no part of the world can travelling be 
accomplished with greater personal safety 
than in Jamaica. An attempt at robbery 
or murder on the highway is scarcely ever 
heard of. It is customary to travel through 
the interior of the country, and that gene- 
rally without any defensive weapons, dur- 
ing any part of the night. 

In this the author speaks from experience, 
having travelled through the settlements 
of the black population in the interior, — 
by their houses along the public roads, or 
scattered amidst the frightful solitudes of 
impervious forests and isolated glens, at all 
hours of the night, attended only by a guide, 
and never had any suspicions awakened 
by the appearance of a black or coloured 
man. Even dwelling-houses in the country 
are but rarely bolted or locked at night. 
A white mendicant was scarcely ever turn- 
ed from the hut of a negro unpitied or un- 
relieved, or a fatigued and half-famished 
traveller un refreshed. 

No women in the world can possess 
more of genuine kindness than the black 
females of Jamaica. To a stranger arrest- 
ed by sickness on the road, and unable to 
proceed, none would more tenderly act the 
part of the good Samaritan. If benighted, 
no more friendly voice could invite them 



ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 



99 



to a shelter till the morning dawn appeared 
— no face could beam with greater tender- 
ness and hospitality, and no generosity- 
could be more abundantly displayed in pro- 
viding for his refreshment and repose. 

Once, when passing through a Maroon 
town, parched with thirst and exhausted 
with fatigue, the writer called at one of 
their huts, and requested a draught of water, 
and he will never forget the tenderness and 
compassion with which he was surveyed 
by the inmates, the earnestness with which 
they sprang forward to hold his horse, or 
the eloquence with which they urged him 
into their clean and comfortable apartment. 
Such was the pleasure which his acquies- 
cence afforded them, that it was with diffi- 
culty he could deter the family from endea- 
vouring to lay almost the whole village 
under contribution for his refreshment. 
Having a long journey before him, he re- 
mained but a kw minutes, and departed 
amidst their loud and repeated benedic- 
tions. 

On another occasion, when travelling 
among the mountains, the author was at- 
tacked with fever; and the symptoms in- 
creasing, so as to render him unable to 
proceed, he turned his horse's head towards 
a decent looking residence, which he soon 
found vvas occupied by a family of colour. 
Here he was recognised ; and an angel 
could scarcely have been more welcome. 
The house was cheerless ; but he was put 
in the best apartment ; the cleanest and best 
covering the cottage could afford was 
spread for his repose ; while the inhabitants 
of the whole neighbourhood seemed to be 
employed in acts of kindness for his re- 
covery. Some gathered medicinal herbs ; 
others were sent in different directions for 
medicinal ingredients ; and while some pre- 
pared them, others applied leaves to his 
oppressed and burning head — the seat of 
the disorder. On his restoration to reason 
(for he had been delirious), the patient 
found himself surrounded by an immense 
crowd ; some of whom were pitying him, 
some expressing their hopes that Misses 
would not hear of it, and others praying 
earnestly for his restoration. 

The writer has scarcely ever been in 
such circumstances without thinking of 
the eulogium pronounced on the female sex 
by Mungo Park, called forth by the kind- 
ness of the African female, in the little 
Bambarra cottage near Sego ; or the still 



more beautiful and sentimental one of 
Ledyard's : — " I have always remarked," 
says the latter, " that women in all coun- 
tries are civil, obliging, tender, and hu- 
mane. ... To a woman, whether civiliz- 
ed or savage, I never addressed myself in 
the language of decency and friendship 
without receiving a decent and friendly 
answer. With man it has often been other- 
wise. In wandering through the barren 
plains of inhospitable Denmark, through 
honest Sweden and frozen Lapland, rude 
and curlish Finland, unprincipled Russia, 
and the wide-spread regions of the wander- 
ing Tartar — if hungry, dry, cold, wet, or 
sick, the women have ever been friendly to 
me ; and to add to this virtue (so worthy of 
the appellation of benevolence), their ac- 
tions have been performed in so free and 
so kind a manner, that, if I was dry, 1 
drank the sweetest draught, and, if hungry, 
I ate the coarsest morsel, with a double 
relish." 

Scenes of dissipation and the midnight 
revel are now comparatively unknown in 
the island. Throughout whole districts, 
where such practices were common, scarce- 
ly a drum or other rough instrument of 
music is heard throughout the year. The 
frantic orgies and Bacchanalian festivities 
of the Christmas holidays, with a few ex- 
ceptions, are confined now almost exclu- 
sively to the towns, where they are secretly 
encouraged ; but even here they are be- 
coming increasingly unpopular, and will 
be speedily extinct. The processions on 
such occasions are now few, and compos- 
ed of the lowest and most disreputable of 
the public, chiefly from the country, whose 
puerilities excite the disgust of the intelli- 
gent, and the ridicule of children. 

The absurd ceremonies and disgusting 
scenes practised and beheld at funerals are 
now generally discontinued both in town 
and country. They are also attended to 
during the day, and that nearly in accord- 
ance with civilized custom. 

To relieve the solitariness of individual 
watching, and to calm their troubled spirit, 
it is customary in most cases for the friends 
of the deceased to sit up with the corpse 
on the night previous to interment; but 
the hours are usually spent — not in rioting 
and drunkenness, not in frantic mirth and 
revelry — but in religious conversation and 
prayer. It is still usual to sing on such 
occasions ; but the songs are the songs of 



100 



JAMAICA : 



Zion, and the dirge is in unison with the 
solemnity of the event. Instead of the 
riotous, and in every way revolting spec- 
tacles formerly exhibited in following the 
corpse to the grave, more orderly deport- 
ment on such occasions is not discovered 
in the most civilized parts of the world ; 
whilst the succeeding obsequies are re- 
garded with a solemnity of feeling on the 
part of the spectators, and are accompanied 
by such expressions of subdued and reve- 
rential sorrow by the bereaved, as seldom 
fail to render the scene deeply solemn and 
impressive. 

As a contrast to the manner in which 
funerals were formerly conducted in the 
rural districts, it may not be uninteresting 
to give the following specimen, in which 
the author was personally concerned. It 
was in a negro village on an estate. Some 
time before he reached the spot, his ear 
was saluted by the sounds of a soft and 
plaintive air ; and on turning an angle 
round a clump of cocoa-nut trees, he found 
about fifty persons, chiefly females, de- 
cently dressed, sitting in front of one of 
the cottages, beneath a shed constructed 
for the occasion, covered over with leaves 
of the plantain tree. They were singing 
a hymn from Dr. Rippon's selection. After 
a little conversation with them, the minister 
entered the hut to see the deceased. The 
coffin, the shroud, and other appendages, 
were plain and neat ; and in nothing did 
the usages differ from those practised in 
this country, but in the circumstance that 
the deceased was laid out in his best suit of 
clothes — a custom which is common 
among all classes in the West Indies. 

Every thing being announced as ready 
by the leader of the class to which the de- 
ceased had belonged, and who, as was 
usual, superintended the arrangements gra- 
tuitously, the coffin was placed on the 
shoulders of four men decently dressed. 
The writer placed himself at its head, and 
was followed by the procession to the 
bottom of a garden, rendered conspicuous 
by rude monumental piles of brick — it was 
the family burial-place. The last sad 
offices being performed, the immediate re- 
latives of the departed were assisted to the 
side of the grave to cast a last look at the 
coffin, over which they uttered a kw audi- 
ble lamentations, and vented their feelings 
in a shower of tears, in which they were 
joined by most of the spectators. 



The grave being filled up, the procession 
withdrew in nearly the same order as that 
in which it had advanced. The conductor 
of the ceremony then re-entered the cot- 
tage, and after partaking of a piece of 
cake handed him by an aged African 
female, on a waiter covered with a napkin 
of purest white, delivered an exhortation 
suitable to the solemn occasion, and re- 
turned home. 

As a further proof of the progress which 
the negroes have made in civilization (and 
for the illustration of which these particu- 
lars are introduced), it may be remarked 
that the spell of Obeism and its kindred 
abominations is broken, and the enchant- 
ment dissolved. In some districts, it is 
true, Myalism has recently revived ; but it 
has been owing to the absence of a law 
since the abrogation of the Slave Act, by 
which the perpetrators could be punished, 
together with the difficulties and expensive- 
ness,in many districts, of procuring proper 
medical advice and aid. Thus the Myal- 
men, having most of them been employed 
in attendance on the sick in the hospitals 
of estates, and thereby acquired some 
knowledge of medicine, have, since the 
abolition of slavery, set up as medical 
men ; and, in order to increase their influ- 
ence, and, consequently, their gains, have 
called to their aid the mysteries of this 
abominable superstition ; in many cases 
accomplishing their purposes by violence 
as well as by terror. The more effectually 
to delude the multitude, the priests of this 
deadly art, now that religion has become 
general, have incorporated with it a reli- 
gious phraseology, together with some of 
the religious observances of the most popu- 
lar denominations, and thus have in some 
instances succeeded in imposing on the 
credulity and fears of many of whom better 
things had been expected. These circum- 
stances have aroused the energies of the 
missionaries to an exposure of the system ; 
as also the civil authorities to the punish- 
ment of the offenders when convicted of a 
violation of the law ; so that in a very 
short period it may be hoped but few 
vestiges of the superstition will remain. 

It is universally acknowledged that in- 
temperance is not now the besetting sin of 
the lower classes in Jamaica. On the 
first introduction of the Gospel by black 
teachers, abstinence from intoxicating 
drinks was made a term of communion — 



ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 



101 



and this previously to the existence of 
temperance and total-abstinence societies : 
so that even before the abolition of slavery 
intemperate habits had been abandoned by 
nearly one-third of the population. Within 
the last two years many small public- 
houses have been established in different 
parts of the country, and it has been ap- 
prehended that the vice would revive. In 
some districts these fears have been, to a 
considerable degree, realized; but in others 
they have been counteracted by the influ- 
ence of total-abstinence societies. Of all 
the particulars in which perhaps the least 
improvement is perceptible is that of a 
conscientious regard to truth and honesty 
in commercial transactions. In spite of 
the utmost efforts to hold up these vices as 
injurious to society and hateful to God, it 
cannot be denied that they are still very 
prevalent. Multitudes regard it as their 
duty to resort to almost any artifice by 
which their gains may be increased. In 
negotiating with a negro for an article he 
exhibits for sale, a person may at any time 
offer him less than one-third of his demand, 
without the least apprehension of incurring 
his displeasure. Nor are these remarks 
less applicable to hundreds of tradesmen 
of higher pretensions, and a fairer skin. 

The violation of the third commandment 
is now seldom heard, but under circum- 
stances of violence and passion, and 
scarcely ever in the public streets, without 
exciting the cry of shame from the passers- 
by : whilst even falsehood and dishonesty 
are gradually yielding to the light of truth 
and the force of principle. Burglaries are 
said to be more frequent than formerly ; 
but these have been chiefly perpetrated by 
a few liberated convicts and other noto- 
rious offenders. Although every trifling 
infraction of the law (contrary to former 
usage) is now publicly known and punish- 
ed, the frequent absence of serious offences 
from the calendar of the courts of quarter- 
sessions and assize, and jails often desti- 
tute of prisoners, are sufficient and palpa- 
ble evidences of the general decrease of 
crime. Domestic servants are beginning 
to be eminently trustworthy ; and, when 
properly treated and confided in, do not 
suffer by a comparison with the great bulk 
of the same class in England. In number- 
less cases they are devotedly attached to 
their employers and their families, and 
manifest a concern for their interests 



almost unparalleled in the annals of human 
history ; watching them by day and night 
in sickness ; and in times of danger ha- 
zarding their lives for the protection of 
their persons and property. Suicide is 
now scarcely heard of throughout the 
length and breadth of the land. In every 
respect is society advancing to that high 
moral standard which is fixed in the great 
Christian code. 

It is truly gratifying to add that the 
sentiments of the country at large are in 
delightful harmony with these observa- 
tions, as is evident by the following Ex- 
tracts from recent numbers of the " Morn- 
ing Journal :" — 

" St. Thomas -in-the-Vak, Aug. 1842. 
" A Court of Quarter-sessions was held 
at Rodney-hall on the 8th instant, T. W. 
Jackson, Esq., chairman. 

"The Chairman addressed the Grand 
Jury briefly, remarking upon the light 
state of the calendar, which contained no 
cases of unusual importance. A few cases 
which had lain over from last Court were 
disposed of; after which, there being no 
bills, the Grand Jury were discharged, and 
the Court adjourned." 

" Kingston, March 22, 1843. 
" Improvement in the Times. 

"Our readers will be surprised, and we 
doubt not pleased, to learn that for the last 
five days not a single prisoner has been 
taken up and committed to the cage of this 
city ! We record this fact with great 
pleasure, as we believe such a circum- 
stance never occurred since the building of 
the city." 

It is worthy of remark that St. Thomas- 
in-the-Vale, the parish to which the first of 
these extracts refers, contains a population 
of 11,000 of recently-enfranchised pea- 
santry, who, during the operation of the 
systems of slavery and apprenticeship, 
were considered the most ignorant, demo- 
ralized, and refractory of any on the 
island. 



102 



JAMAICA 



CHAPTER XV. 

RELIGIOUS STATE. 

Sect. I. — Awful Destitution of Religion in the Island 
during the first Century of its Occupation by the 
British — Ignorance of the Black People — Idolatry — 
Superstition — Subsequent corrupted Christianity — 
Influence of Ignorant and SuperstitiousTeachers — 
Desecration of the Sabbath — Paucity of Places of 
Religious Worship; of Hearers— Clergy — Their un- 
favourable Opinion expressed to Parliament as to 
the Instruction and Conversion of the Slaves — 
Opinions of Infidel Philosophers. 

Sect. II. — Arrival of Missionaries — Opposition ex- 
perienced — Subsequent Success — Abolition of Sun- 
day Markets — Improved Observance of the Sabbath 
— Number of regular Places of Worship in 1843 — 
Number of Missionaries — Great Extension of Reli- 
gion — Village Chapels — Attendance at Places of 
Worship — Average Size of the largest Congrega- 
tions — Number of Missionaries of all Denomina- 
tions — Number of Native Assistants. 

Sect. III. — Number of Members in communion 
with each of the Churches and Denominations of 
Christians and aggregate of Inquirers, &c, con- 
nected with each Denomination — Size of indivi- 
dual Churches — Manner of admitting Members — 
Wesleyans, Baptists — Number added to Baptist 
Churches at one time ; in one year — Total Number 
added to Baptist and Wesleyan Churches during 
the last twenty years. 

Section I. — For upwards of a hundred 
years after Jamaica became an appendage 
of the British Crown, scarcely an effort 
was made to instruct the slaves in the 
great doctrines and duties of Christianity ; 
and although, in 1696, at the instance of 
the mother country, an Act was passed by 
the local Legislature, " directing" that all 
slave-owners should instruct their negroes, 
and have them baptized, " when fit for it," 
it is evident, from the very terms in which 
the Act was expressed, that it was designed 
to be, as it afterwards proved, a dead letter 
— a mere political manoeuvre, intended to 
prevent the interference of the parent state 
in the management of the slaves. 

In answer to certain inquiries made by 
Parliament in 1790, as to the actual state 
of religious instruction in Jamaica, Mr. 
Wedderburn replied — " There are a few 
properties on which there are Moravian 
parsons ; but in general there is no atten- 
tion paid to religious instruction." The 
same testimony was borne, at the same 
time, by Mr. Fuller, agent, of Jamaica, 
and two others, who, when asked, " What 
religious instructions are there for the 
negro slaves'?" answered, "We know of 
none such in Jamaica." 

" When I first landed in Jamaica," says 
Dr. Coke, which was in 1789, " the form 



of godliness was hardly visible; and its 
power, except in some few solitary in- 
stances, was totally unknown. Iniquity 
prevailed in all its forms. Both whites and 
blacks, to the number of between 300,000 
and 400,000, were evidently living without 
hope and without God in the world." The 
language of the Apostle seemed strikingly 
descriptive of their entire depravity : — 
" There is none righteous, no, not one ; 
there is none that understandeth, there is 
none that seeketh after God. Their throats 
are an open sepulchre ; with their tongue 
they have used deceit ; the poison of asps 
is under their lips ; their feet are swift to 
shed blood, and the way of peace they 
have not known." 

" As to sending missionaries among 
them," referring to one of the African 
tribes, said Mr. Edwards, the historian of 
Jamaica, in his place in the House of 
Commons, in 1796, « I speak from my 
own knowledge when I say that they are 
cannibals, and that, instead of listening 
to a missionary, they would certainly eat 
him." 

Under such circumstances the religious 
state of the slave population must have 
been deplorable. It may be emphatically 
said that darkness covered the land, and 
gross darkness the people. And if one 
ray of light glimmered in its midst, it only 
served to render the surrounding darkness 
still more visible — more clearly to exhibit 
the hideous abominations beneath which 
the island groaned. 

Most of the negroes appear to have pos- 
sessed some notion of a Supreme Being ; 
though, like all uncivilized nations, their 
ideas of the Deity were very confused and 
unbecoming. From the frequency of earth- 
quakes, hurricanes, and tornadoes, when 
the elements seemed to conspire their de- 
struction, they associated with his charac- 
ter all the base passions and attributes of 
a vindictive and capricious mortal. Hence 
their devotion was the offspring, not of 
gratitude, but of terror. Some of them 
were Papists ; some professedly belonged 
to the Cophtic or Abyssinian churches ; 
some were Mohammedans ; some Poly- 
theists and Atheists : but most of them ido- 
laters — worshippers of the sun and moon, 
of the ocean, of the rocks, of fountains and 
rivers, of lofty trees, and images of various 
forms and dimensions. Their idolatry, 
too, was of the basest possible description. 



ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 



103 



They did not, like the Hindoos, regard 
their idols as mere symbolical representa- 
tions of the Divinity, and useful only as 
sensible objects to awaken the memory 
and animate devotion ; but ascribed divine 
power to the material itself, and absolutely 
worshipped the rude stone or block which 
their own hands had fashioned. Serpents, 
lizards, the yellow snake, and other re- 
volting reptiles, also ranked high in the 
polluted catalogue of their divinities. The 
Moco tribe, and others bordering on their 
territory in Africa, are said not only to 
have worshipped snakes and other reptiles, 
but also to have eaten them when thus 
deified. Many worshipped the devil him- 
self, or some imaginary being whom they 
regarded as the source of all evil. 

Absurd, monstrous, and discordant as 
were the elements which composed their 
religious system, there is yet to be united 
with it another ingredient which, if less 
revolting in its aspect and character, was 
not only equally unproductive of rational 
piety and consistent morality, but far more 
injurious in its consequences. Many of 
them, from motives of ambition and pecu- 
niary advantage, soon acquired a know- 
ledge of the formularies of the English 
Church ; and, at the conclusion of the war 
with America, some who had been im- 
ported from that continent, mysteriously 
blending together important truths and ex- 
travagant puerilities, assumed the office of 
teachers and preachers, disseminating far 
and wide their pernicious follies. 

The more effectually to impose upon the 
credulity of their ignorant and unsuspect- 
ing brethren, they endeavoured to persuade 
them that they were sent of God, and were 
endowed by him with peculiar gifts and 
graces. They pretended to read — to fore- 
tel future events ; to possess the gift of 
tongues ; and to prophesy. They seldom 
delivered their instructions without a book, 
representing it as the Bible; although it 
as frequently happened to be some other 
book of a certain size and shape. In one 
instance a teacher of this description was 
found haranguing a large assembly from 
' Burn's Justice,' holding it upside down. 
Among the other characteristic errors of 
this sect, its teachers interpreted what lit- 
tle they knew of the Scriptures literally. 

At Christmas it was customary for them 
and their disciples to go in groups into the 
woods, or, if there were any in the neigh- 



bourhood, among the sheep, over which 
they pretended to watch, in imitation of 
the shepherds, to whom the angels an- 
nounced the birth of the Redeemer, and 
this under the delusive expectation of being 
favoured with a similar visitation, or, as 
they expressed it, "they went into the 
' bush' to see the angels," who it was be- 
lieved made an annual appearance. Their 
usual attitude in prayer partook of all the 
austerities of penance. They either stood 
with their arms extended, and their whole 
bodies as though transfixed against the 
wall, or prostrated themselves upon the 
earth ; and in this attitude they remained 
many hours at a time, and sometimes 
through the entire night, manifesting the 
most violent muscular contortions, and 
uttering the most discordant sounds ex- 
pressive of internal anguish and agonizing 
supplication. 

At certain seasons each individual, tak- 
ing a solitary course, wandered into the. 
woods and most secluded parts of the coun- 
try, in search of the Saviour, professedly 
after the manner of John the Baptist in the 
wilderness. 

When any of the fraternity were con- 
fined to their beds by sickness, the minis- 
ter, or father, as he was usually called, 
anointed them with oil in imitation of the 
anointing of the Saviour by Mary Magda- 
lene, before his crucifixion. The usual 
method of its application was by pouring 
it into the palm of the hand, and rubbing it 
on the head of the patient ; the tata, or 
father, singing some ditty during the ope- 
ration, being joined in loud chorus by all 
who assembled to witness the ceremony. 

The influence and temporal interests of 
these deluded and deluding men increased 
in proportion to the number of their con- 
verts ; and, most of them being free men, 
the duties of their assumed vocation were 
most assiduously performed. They usually 
led a wandering life, travelling by night to 
avoid apprehension. Wherever they took 
up their residence for a season, they com- 
municated their instructions from house to 
house, and, with a gravity and importance 
which they knew well how to assume, con- 
firmed their disciples in the faith. On the 
visit of one of these impostors to a new 
neighbourhood, his inquiry at each house 
was whether any praying persons resided 
there? and on meeting with a negative he 
immediately began to open his commission. 



104 



JAMAICA : 



If listened to with attention, and treated 
with respect and hospitality, he lifted up 
his hands and eyes, and exclaimed, 
" Peace be to this house." If, on the con- 
trary, he was treated with indifference and 
insult, he shook off the dust from his feet 
as a testimony against them. 

These infatuated men professed a firm 
belief in purgatory, and, like the Romish 
priests, pretended an acquaintance with the 
destinies of the deceased. Thus, on in- 
quiries being made of their teachers by 
surviving relatives or friends, the uniform 
reply was that " they would go and dream 
about it, and give the required information 
on the morrow." It scarcely need be added 
that this question involved in it several 
conditions, and that the reply was more 
or less in accordance with the wishes of 
the applicant. 

Dreams and visions constituted funda- 
mental articles of their creed. Some su- 
pernatural revelations were regarded as 
indispensable to qualify for admission to 
the full privileges of their community. 
Candidates were required, indeed, to dream 
a certain number of dreams before they 
were received to membership, the subjects 
of which were given them by their teachers. 

The meetings of this fraternity were 
frequently prolonged through nearly half 
the night. The priests enjoined on their 
followers the duty of fasting one or two 
days in the week, and encouraged a week- 
ly meeting at each others' houses, alter- 
nately, to drink " hot water" out of white 
tea-cups (the whole of the tea-table para- 
phernalia corresponding), which they de- 
signated by the absurd and inappropriate 
epithet of" breaking the peace." To such 
a deplorable extent did they carry these 
superstitious practices, and such was the 
degree of ignorance on the part of both 
priests and people, that, in the absence of 
better information as to what was to be 
sung in their religious assemblies, they 
were in the habit of singing the childish 
story of " the House that Jack Built." 
Things if possible still more absurd were 
sung by them on such occasions, while 
" hallelujah" was repeated at the end of 
each verse in loud chorus. These are 
facts which the writer has repeatedly ga- 
thered from lips of some of the parties 
themselves. 

The consequences of these practices it 
would be irrelevant to trace. So rapidly, 



however, was their influence extending 
throughout the country on the arrival of 
the missionaries, that but for the efforts of 
the latter in counteracting it, it must soon 
have involved consequences of the most 
serious character, not only with regard to 
morals and religion, but also as it respect- 
ed the pecuniary interests of the colonists. 
There was an almost universal desecra- 
tion of the Sabbath. The slaves regarded 
this sacred day as one which was to be de- 
voted wholly to temporal pursuits. To the 
industrious it was a time for labour; to 
others of sport and recreation. Thousands 
on this day met in the public markets. It 
was a kind of weekly carnival where 
friends and acquaintances congregated, 
universal merriment prevailed, and reck- 
less dissipation was everywhere indulged. 
It was spent indeed worse than were the 
Christain holidays. The book of sports 
seemed to have been introduced and patro- 
nised, and all the vices which disgraced 
the reign of Charles II. to have been exem- 
plified and perfected. Certain places were 
selected for public diversion. Dancing, 
yelling, wrestling, fighting, and gambling, 
met the eye in every direction, while the 
horrid din of savage music fell distress- 
ingly upon the ear. The very streets and 
lanes in and about the towns presented 
such scenes of riot and wickedness that 
scarcely a decent person dared walk out 
even at noon-day. At a very early hour 
on a Sabbath morning every road leading 
to the towns and market-stations of the 
country was crowded with negroes, carry- 
ing to the market heavy loads of ground 
provisions, wood, grass, &c, while the 
market itself baffled all description. Every 
bad passion of the human heart was there 
seen in active operation. Covetousness 
exhibited itself under all its Protean forms ; 
cheating, thieving, and extortion abounded 
on every hand. Anger, jealousy, and re- 
venge declared themselves by loud bursts 
of furious passion, by oaths and impreca- 
tions, by cursings and fightings, whilst 
scenes of the most revolting drunkenness 
were visible in all directions. On the eve- 
ning of the day every road was crowded 
with negroes returning from market with a 
supply of salt provisions, and other articles 
which their morning sales had enabled 
them to procure, and on these roads drunk- 
enness and riot were to be seen at every 
step. 



ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 



105 



Nor was the desecration of this day- 
confined to the purposes of traffic. Most 
of the rivers were crowded with washer- 
women. The negro-houses were undergo- 
ing repairs, and the provision-grounds peo- 
pled with workmen. This violation was 
constant, open, and systematic, as well as 
universal. 

There was a great paucity of places of 
religious worship. Even in the year 1800 
there were only twenty churches on the 
island, the population being then estimated 
at 400,000 souls, making an aggregate of 
19,000 to each parish ; and on the suppo- 
sition that each parish had a rector", there 
were 19,000 to each clergyman, which 
was not more than one in each district of 
560 square miles. Accordingly, from the 
size of the parishes, these places of wor- 
ship were distant a day's journey from 
thousands of the parishioners, and so small 
that, although situated in the midst of a 
population of 19,000 souls, they would not 
contain more than from 100 to 150 hear- 
ers each. Seldom were they all open at 
one time, and less frequently did the whole 
number of hearers throughout the island 
exceed 300 persons. 

Thus lamentably deficient in number and 
size as were the sanctuaries of the Most 
High, and appalling as was the indiffer- 
ence and irreligion everywhere displaced, 
there is another circumstance still more to 
be deplored. From all that can be gather- 
ed it does not appear that even one of these 
places of worship was occupied by an 
evangelical clergyman. The whole of that 
professedly sacred order might then have 
been designated, in the emphatic language 
of the prophet, "ignorant shepherds, dumb 
dogs that could not bark, sleeping, lying 
down, loving to slumber, greedy dogs 
which can never have enough, shepherds 
that could not understand, all looking to 
their own way, every one for his gain from 
his quarter."* 

Even at a much later period a pious 
clergyman, or a pious white layman, was 
not to be found in the whole island. Scarce- 
ly could Sodom and Gomorrah have pre- 
sented a greater dearlh of all that was vir- 
tuous and good in human character. This 
appalling representation is tacitly sustained 
by the concessions of Francis Hanson, a 
long resident in Jamaica, and who, in a 

♦Isaiah hi., 10,11. 



history of the constitution of the island 
written about the year 1805, says, " I may 
also add that the people generally are of 
the Church of England. We have very 
few papists and sectaries, for neither Je- 
suits nor Nonconformist parsons do or can 
live amongst us. Some few have attempted, 
but could never gain proselytes enough to 
afford them sustenance." 

In the year 1816, as the result of dis- 
cussions in England, a curate was added 
to each parish ; but even after the appoint- 
ment of this additional number of clergy- 
men the spiritual instruction of the slaves 
seems hardly to have been contemplated, 
as is proved by the following returns made 
to the Colonial Secretary by clergymen 
themselves. The rector of Clarendon, Ja- 
maica, having under his care a population 
of 18,000 souls, says — " I have time but 
little more than sufficient to discharge the 
common functions of my office, in bury- 
ing, marrying, and christening, and at- 
tending on Sundays my church, which is 
situated at least ten miles from my rec- 
tory. Limited, however, as I am with re- 
spect to time, I have yet endeavoured to 
do all that I could. Within the last thir- 
teen months 1 have twice made known to 
the principal proprietors and attorneys in 
this parish my readiness to attend on such 
properties, for the religious instruction of 
the slaves, as they would permit me to 
visit ; but I have not been able to obtain 
the consent of more than two of them." 

The rector of St. Thomas's in the East 
agrees with the reverend gentleman whose 
authority is just cited. " The fact is, in 
respect to slaves in general, that their 
knowledge of the English language is so 
very limited that they can derive little or 
no advantage from their attendance at 
church. They are so conscious of this de- 
fect, that when I go to church for the ex- 
press purpose of catechising them, very 
lew will attend, and not one of these will 
utter a word but what has been put into his 
mouth. How then, it may be said, are 
twenty-six thousand slaves (the number in 
this parish) to be instructed'.' The subject 
has frequently engaged my thoughts, and 
I cannot conceive any other mode than 
this : let the young Creole slaves be taught 
to speak and read, and at the same time 
be instructed in the first principles of the 
Christian religion, in public schools esta- 
blished in different parts of the parish ; and 



106 



JAMAICA : 



let them communicate what instruction 
they have received in their own way to 
their African brethren, to whom it is im- 
possible for white people to make them- 
selves understood." 

From the opinion expressed in the con- 
cluding sentence of this latter paragraph, 
it is evident that the conversion of the ne- 
groes to Christianity was generally con- 
sidered impossible, " a hopeless task," " a 
wild and ridiculous theory." " Such," 
says Mr. Long, " is their general inappe- 
tency to become converts, together with 
their barbarous stupidity and ignorance of 
the English language, which renders them 
incapable of understanding and reasoning 
upon what is said to them, that it would 
foil the most zealous endeavours." Says 
Bosman : — " If it were possible to convert 
the African negroes to Christianity, the 
Roman Catholics would probably succeed 
better than any other sect," assigning as a 
reason, the influence which pageantry and 
show ever exerts over the untutored mind. 
" Among a host of similar testimonies," 
says Long, " the Rev. Mr. Hughes, a cler- 
gyman in Jamaica, supports the same con- 
clusion. ' To bring them,' says he, ' to 
the knowledge of the Christian religion is 
undoubtedly a great and good design, in 
the intention laudable, and in speculation 
easy ; yet I believe, for reasons too tedious 
to be mentioned, that the difficulties attend- 
ing it are, and I am persuaded ever will 
be, insurmountable.' " 



Section II Such was the moral and 

religious state of the black population, and 
such the opinions entertained with regard 
to the impossibility of their conversion to 
God down to a comparatively recent pe- 
riod, and such, in all probability, would 
they have remained to the present hour, 
had it not been for the efforts of missiona- 
ries from other religious denominations. 
The first of these were the Moravians, who, 
in 1754, appointed "Brother Caries and 
two other missionaries to Jamaica, in com- 
pliance with the wishes of some proprietors 
in one of the country parishes." In 1782, 
Mr. George Lisle, a black man, the slave 
of a British officer, and who had been the 
pastor of a Baptist church in Georgia, in 
the United States, was brought over by his 
master to Kingston, accompanied by his 



wife and family. He was shortly followed 
by several members of his church, among 
whom were Moses Baker, and Messrs. 
Gibbs and Robinson. By some providen- 
tial occurrences Mr. Lisle was led to exer- 
cise his ministry in Kingston and its envi- 
rons, in which he was greatly assisted by 
the above-named brethren. 

The Wesleyans began their operations 
in Jamaica in 1789, under Dr. Coke, who, 
after preaching in various parts of the 
island, originated a permanent station in 
the same populous city, over which he ap- 
pointed Mr. Hammet. The Baptist Mis- 
sionary Society directed its efforts to the 
island in 1813. Their first missionary 
was Mr. John Rowe, who was sent to co- 
operate with Moses Baker, at a station 
called Flamstead, near Falmouth, to which 
part of the island the latter had been re- 
moved. 

Great anxiety was manifested by the 
coloured and black people generally to 
hear the Gospel, and thousands, hearing, 
believed to the saving of their souls. Owing, 
however, to the violent opposition of the 
white inhabitants, and the successive enact- 
ment of laws intended to counteract their 
efforts, the labours of these servants of 
God were often suspended, and their flocks 
scattered like sheep without a shepherd. 
About the year 1815, the drooping spirits 
of both minister^ and people began again 
to revive. His Majesty in Council had re- 
peatedly disallowed the persecuting laws 
of the colonists, and otherwise discounte- 
nanced their proceedings, as the result of 
which open hostility began somewhat to 
abate. Accordingly, in December of that 
year, Mr. Shipman, Wesleyan missionary, 
obtained a license from the authorities to 
preach, although not until after several 
unsuccessful attempts. 

The chapel in Kingston, which had 
been closed for several years, was now 
reopened. Two years afterwards the 
spirit of hearing had so greatly increased 
that another chapel in connexion with the 
same body of Christians was opened in 
another part of the city, and one also at 
Montego Bay. In the meantime two more 
missionaries with their wives had been 
sent out by the Baptist Missionary So- 
ciety, Messrs. Compere and Coultart, who 
were accompanied by two pious artisans, 
Messrs. Tripp and Thurston. 

Mr. and Mrs. Compere landed in the 



ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 



107 



latter part of the year 1816, and proceeded 
to the neighbourhood of Old Harbour Bay, 
from which they soon after removed to 
Kingston. In a few months they quitted 
the island for America, and were succeed- 
ed at Kingston by Mr. and Mrs. Coultart. 
Cessation from open hostilities still con- 
tinuing, the poor people flocked to the 
houses of God in increasing numbers, and 
reiterated their entreaties that more mis- 
sionaries might be sent to them. The 
committees of the different societies in 
England, according to their ability, re- 
sponded to the appeal. The number of 
missionaries was therefore, from time to 
time, increased, so that in the year 1824 
there were four Moravian stations, occupied, 
by an equal number of missionaries ; eight 
missionaries and stations belonging to the 
Wesleyan Missionary Society, and five 
stations superintended by an equal number 
of missionaries of the Baptist Missionary 
Society. Their labours were now distri- 
buted as widely as possible throughout the 
country, and increasingly interesting and 
important statements being continually 
transmitted to the societies at home, agents 
were successively multiplied, churches 
planted, and thousands savingly converted. 
At various periods during the existence of 
slavery the dormant spirit of persecution 
revived, and sometimes with an energy 
which seemed to threaten the destruction 
of the missions. But in every instance 
did the overruling hand of God prevent the 
accomplishment of its object. The tide of 
knowledge and religion had begun to flow, 
and utterly in vain was every attempt to 
impede its onward progress. A new era 
had dawned upon Jamaica, and a change 
was gradually taking place, which, in the 
short space of about twenty years, has 
produced results probably unprecedented 
in any age or country. It recalls to our 
remembrance the events of apostolic times, 
when superstition burnt her books on the 
altar of truth, when the idols of the hea- 
then fell, and the throne of Satan trembled. 
It resembled the introduction of Christianity 
into Judea, where, when the Jewish priests 
rejected him who came to them with life 
and immortality, " the common people 
heard him gladly." Completely verified 
was the prediction — -'a people whom I 
have not known shall serve me, so soon 
as they hear of me they shall obey me, 
and the strangers shall submit themselves 



unto me."* " So mightily grew the word 
of God, and prevailed."']' 

From the hold which superstition had 
obtained upon the minds of the people, it 
is but natural to suppose that its eradica- 
tion would be extremely difficult, as well 
as a work of time. It has, however, re- 
laxed and disappeared, in proportion to the 
means which have been employed. Fifteen 
or twenty years ago, in a negro burying- 
ground, at no great distance from the au- 
thor's residence in Spanish Town, there 
was scarcely a grave that did not exhibit 
from two to four rudely carved images; 
and it was a common custom, even for 
comparatively respectable persons annually 
to strew the rude tombs with which it 
abounded with viands, and to pour upon 
them libations of wine and blood, as offer- 
ings to their supposed divinities. Such 
practices have long been discontinued, and 
were any to adopt them at the present day, 
it would affix to their characters a stigma 
which would almost exclude thern from the 
pale of society. In the towns and districts, 
where the means of moral and religious in- 
struction have been regularly afforded, and 
that throughout a series of years, very few- 
vestiges of the ancient superstition remain 
in any form. Like every other species of 
imposture, superstition has its foundation 
in ignorance, and in proportion to the dif- 
fusion of sound scriptural knowledge will 
the spell be broken, and the enchantment 
be dissolved. Idolatry, indeed, may be 
said to be entirely abolished. So little re- 
verence do former deities now inspire that 
a short time since the author found an idol 
on the public road. The appearance of 
such an object three years ago, in such a 
place, would have created the utmost terror 
and alarm throughout the neighbourhood, 
but it was now either passed by entirely 
unheeded, or elicited only contempt or sal- 
lies of wit from the beholders.:]: 

Instead of the public carnivals and the 
riotous and obscene processions in the 
streets once so common on the Sabbath, 
that sacred day may now be said to be 
generally hallowed. The Sunday markets 



* Psalm xviii., 43, 44. t Acts six., 20. 

X A black female, after eyeing it intently, thus soli- 
loquized : — " Ah, poor boy, dat de way dem sarve you 
no? Trow you way now dem no fraid for you again? 
What make you no trouble dem now like a befo 
time? Ah ! since light come we see you bin make 
we too much fool, poor ting ! light bad ting for you. 
You no get notin for nyarn (eat) now." 



108 



JAMAICA: 



are universally abolished, and the appro- 
priate duties and engagements of the Sab- 
bath are more extensively and properly 
observed than even in England. From the 
earliest dawn thousands, both young and 
old, clothed in clean and neat apparel, are 
seen thronging the streets and roads to and 
from the house of God and the Sabbath- 
schools. Such a scene would be delight- 
ful under any circumstances, but the more 
so from the perfect contrast it presents to 
those so lately witnessed. The throngs 
which sometimes issue from some of the 
larger places of worship in the towns are 
so great as to render the streets in their 
neighbourhood almost impassable. The 
whole population, both of the town and 
suburbs, seems to be in motion, and when 
going in one direction, resembles a torrent 
carrying every thing before it; those who 
are married exhibiting the truly civilized 
and social spectacle of walking arm in 
arm ; — a fact, the narration of which, 
though in England it may excite a smile, 
is here noticed on account of its compara- 
tive novelty among a people who were 
lately sunk in the lowest depths of degra- 
dation and sin. Such a transformation in 
the manners and appearance of the people 
could, a few years ago, scarcely have been 
imagined by any one acquainted with the 
then existing state of society. 

The number of places of worship is 
greatly multiplied. There are now, as 
nearly as can be calculated, upwards of 
fifty regular churches and chapels of ease ; 
about eleven Moravian chapels ; two large 
chapels of the Church of Scotland ; twelve 
in connexion with the Scottish Missionary 
Society ; eleven belonging to the London 
Society ; four or five in connexion with 
American Congregationalists ; eight or 
nine with native Baptists; seven or eight 
with the Church Missionary Society ; up- 
wards of fifty with the Wesleyan ; seven 
or eight with the Wesleyan Association ; 
and about sixty with the Baptist Missionary 
Society : making a total of two hundred 
and twenty-six regular places of worship. 
Besides these, connected chiefly with the 
Baptist denomination, are subordinate sta- 
tions at which divine worship is regularl}' 
performed in private houses, in temporary 
places erected for the purpose, or in negro 
huts, not to mention the frequency with 
which service is conducted out of doors, 
beneath the shade of trees and in tempo- 



rary sheds. The whole number of places 
at which the Gospel is occasionally or 
more regularly preached by regular minis- 
ters cannot, on the lowest calculation, be 
estimated at less than three hundred. 

Not only has religion found its way into 
almost every town^and village of impor- 
tance in the island, but, in a greater or 
less degree, into the majority of the estates 
and other larger properties. As soon as 
its sacred influence begins to be felt on a 
property or in a new township, the first 
work of the converts is to add to their 
clusters of cottages a house for God. 
This is done not merely for their own spi- 
ritual advantage, but with an especial re- 
ference to that of their neighbours and 
friends. Some of these houses will hold 
from one hundred and fifty to two and 
three hundred individuals, and are fitted 
up with benches and other conveniences 
similar to regular places of worship. Here 
an individual of their own colour, duly au- 
thorized by the minister to whose church 
he belongs (and who, since the abolition of 
slavery, often visits them himself), holds a 
prayer or class meeting two or three times 
in the week, and addresses the assembly 
in the best manner he is able on the things 
which belong to their peace. In numerous 
instances, the " praying people" in a par- 
ticular locality, regarding themselves as 
one family, flock to these places every 
morning and evening of the week for do- 
mestic devotion. Here they are heard 
often before the dawn of day and at the 
latest hour preceding their repose, pouring 
out their earnest and artless supplications 
at the throne of grace for strength to 
enable them to maintain their Christian 
course. There is scarcely an evening in 
the week but the song of praise and the 
voice of prayer, mingling with the same 
incense from many a family altar and 
many a secluded closet, is thus arising to 
heaven from all parts of the land. 

" The dwellers in the vales and on the rocks 
Shout to each other — and the mountain-tops 
From distant mountains catch the flying joy." 

From this description it will be easily 
conceived that the attendance at all places 
of worship favoured with an evangelical 
ministry is astonishingly great. The ex- 
clamation of the prophet, when wrapt in 
visions of future days, is here actually 
realized — " Who are these that fly as a 
cloud and as doves to their windows V 



ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 



109 



On Sabbath days most of the churches and 
chapels, thus privileged, are filled with 
pious and attentive worshippers. Some of 
these places, though calculated to hold 
from one thousand to four thousand hear- 
ers, are often crowded. At all the other 
public means of grace, such as prayer- 
meetings, and week evening lectures, the 
same interesting appearances in a corre- 
sponding proportion present themselves; to 
say nothing of those which refer less 
directly to the great objects of the Christian 
ministry, such as Church, Bible Class, 
leaders' meetings, singing, Sunday-school 
teachers, and Missionary meetings. - Some 
general idea of the attendance on these oc- 
casions may be formed from a jubilee 
meeting lately held at Kettering, in Ja- 
maica, and which is thus described in the 
" Baptist Herald:" — " We have this week 
to record one of the most delightful seasons 
of joy it has ever been our happiness to 
witness, — the Jubilee of the Baptist Mis- 
sionary Society, held at Kettering, in this 
parish. The vast numbers who attended 
appear universally to have participated in 
the pleasures of the day, and we have 
reason to believe that lasting impressions 
of good will be the result. When the 
living mass arose to hymn the praises of 
the Eternal, the scene was overpowering. 
The booth, which contained 30,000 super- 
ficial feet, being 200 feet long by 150 
broad, was literally crammed, and had in 
it nearly nine thousand persons ; sixteen 
hundred children passed through one of 
the avenues, singing sweetly, and were at 
the same time addressed in another part of 
the village, and a congregation of full two 
thousand were assembled to hear the 
truths of the Gospel in another ; so that, 
excluding the number who were yet in the 
village of Duncan, there were thirteen 
thousand listening to the deeply interest- 
ing details of the mission." 

The Baptist congregation at Spanish 
Town, one of the largest connected with 
Missionary Societies in Jamaica, averages 
on a Sabbath day two thousand hearers. 
A prayer-meeting, which has been held 
for a number of years between the hours 
of five and six o'clock on the Sabbath 
morning, has averaged five hundred atten- 
dants ; as also the Monday evening prayer- 
meeting and the Thursday evening lecture. 
The number at Falmouth, under the pas- 
toral care of the Rev. William Knibb, may 



be said to average two thousand on the 
Sabbath. At Montego Bay the congrega- 
tion, recently under the care of the Rev. 
Thomas Burchell, is said to average on a 
Sabbath day about two thousand two hun- 
dred hearers. Occasionally one thousand 
people have been known to have been 
present at these places at an early Sab- 
bath morning prayer-meeting. The usual 
attendance at East Queen Street, in King- 
ston, under the pastoral oversight of the 
Rev. Samuel Oughton, is estimated at two 
thousand five hundred, and seven hundred 
are present at the week-day evening ser- 
vices. Equal numbers are supposed to be 
in regular attendance at two of the Wes- 
leyan chapels in Kingston, under the su- 
perintendence of the Rev. Jonathan Ed- 
mondson, chairman of the district. These 
places of worship, which will contain from 
two thousand five hundred to three thou- 
sand five hundred persons each, are often, 
during the ordinary ministrations of the 
Gospel, crowded to excess ; whilst on par- 
ticular occasions, such as Missionary or 
Anti-Slavery Meetings, hundreds have 
been unable to find admission. In several 
of the country districts the congregations 
belonging to different religious bodies are 
equally flourishing, and some of them 
almost as large as those previously de- 
scribed. Among the most pleasing cir- 
cumstances connected with this spirit of 
hearing is the fact that prayer-meetings are 
generally well attended, and are not only 
in many cases the most interesting, but 
frequently have they been found the most 
profitable, of all the public means of 
grace. 

Instead of there being, as stated by the 
historian,* Francis Hanson, in 1805, no 
" sectarian parsons" on the island, there 
are now about 120, exclusive of native 
assistants and catechists (amounting pro- 
bably to an equal number), who are em. 
ployed on the Sabbath in carrying on Di- 
vine worship at subordinate stations. Wes- 
leyan missionaries, 31 ; Moravians, 12 ; 
Presbyterians, 12 ; London Missionaries, 
11 ; Congregationalists from America, 5; 
Native Baptists, 14 ; Baptist Missionaries, 
31. Total 116. The following statement 
exhibits the progressive increase of minis- 
ters of all denominations during a period 
of ten years, ending in 1841. In 1831 

* Vide, p. 227. 



110 



JAMAICA: 



the number of ministers connected with the 
Church of England was 52 ; of Presbyte- 
rians, 4; of Wesleyan Methodists, 16; of 
Baptist Missionaries, 16 ; of Moravian Mis- 
sionaries, 8 : total, 96. In 1841, minis- 
ters of the above denominations were, of 
the Church of England, 74 ; Presbyte- 
rians, 13; Wesleyan Methodists, 29; 
Baptist Missionaries, 27 ; Moravian Mis- 
sionaries, 12 : total, 155. In addition to 
these there are the missionaries of the 
London Missionary Society, ministers of 
the Wesleyan Missionary Association, and 
American Congregationalists, who have 
commenced operations since the first-men- 
tioned period. 

Section III. — As an additional evidence 
of the religious transformation which has 
taken place in this part of the missionary 
field, let us contemplate the numbers that 
have been hopefully converted to God 
since the introduction of the Gospel, toge- 
ther with the multitudes who are just awa» 
kened to a concern about their souls, and 
the change will appear still more surpris- 
ing and glorious. 

In 1842 not less than 23,000 negroes 
and their descendants are reported as being 
united in Christian fellowship with the 
Wesleyans. In the absence of express 
data on which to ground an accurate cal- 
culation with respect to some of the deno- 
minations, it may be said that about 5000 
are connected with the Moravians, 7000 
with the Scottish Missionary Society, about 
2000 with the London Missionary Society, 
1000 with the American Congregational- 
ists, 4000 with the Wesleyan Methodist 
Association, and 30,000 with the Baptist 
Missionary Society, making an aggregate 
of 72,000 souls, exclusive of those con- 
nected with the Church Missionary Society, 
and such as are under the care of evange- 
lical clergymen, which will increase the 
gross amount of real converts to upwards 
of 100,000, fully one-third of the entire 
black population of the island. But, in 
addition to these, let the multitudes that 
have died since the commencement of mis- 
sionary operations be taken into the cal- 
culation, and estimating the number at the 
rate of 25 percent., making allowance for 
the great mortality of the slave popula- 
tion, and the number cannot be less than 
50,000, thus making the grand total of 
150,000 souls hopefully turned from the 



power of Satan unto God, chiefly within 
the short period of thirty years. 

Connected with most of the denomina- 
tions are persons called respectively in- 
quirers, probationers, and catechumens, 
most of whom are considered to afford 
pleasing indications of piety. The number 
of probationers attached to the Wesleyan 
denomination may be estimated at 2000 ; 
the Moravians, about 2000 ; Scottish Mis- 
sionary Society, 2000; the London Mis- 
sionary Society, 2000 ; the American Con- 
gregationalists, 1000; the Wesleyan Asso- 
ciation, 2000 ; the Church of England and 
Church Missionary Society, 5000; the 
Baptists, 21,111, which, with those of 
other denominations, will make about 
50,000. Thus it will be found that the 
grand total of professing Christians con- 
nected with the different denominations in 
Jamaica, since the commencement of mis- 
sionary efforts to the present time, is about 
200,000 souls. 

Surely at such a recital every pious and 
benevolent heart must leap for joy, and ex- 
claim with adoring gratitude, " What hath 
God wrought !" 200,000 souls converted 
from heathenism and savage darkness to 
the only true and living God ! 200,000 
brands plucked from the fire, and multi- 
tudes more inquiring the way to Zion with 
their faces thitherward! Then think of 
the value of one soul — 

" Behold the midnight glory, worlds on worlds, 
Amazing pomp! Redouble this amaze — 
Ten thousand add, add twice ten thousand more, 
Then weigh the whole ; one soul outweighs them all, 
And calls the astonishing magnificence 
Of unintelligent creation poor." 

" Such," says a pious writer, " is the im- 
portance of one soul, that its salvation, 
were it the only result of all the Bible, 
Missionary, Tract, and other religious 
Societies in the world, all their money, 
time, labours, prayers, and anxieties, 
would-be well repaid. Nay, had all the 
combined efforts of these societies been use- 
less up to this hour, still God would ap- 
prove their aim." 

" Who that has right feelings," says 
Mr. Candler, " can be but thankful for 
what he sees and witnesses in this interest- 
ing land ? A people lately dark, super- 
stitious, and ignorant, coming by degrees 
to the knowledge of the truth, glad to re- 
ceive religious instruction, and giving proof 
of their improved habits and conduct, that 



ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 



Ill 



the Lord, by his good Spirit, is himself 
their teacher." 

The testimony of Joseph J. Gurney, 
Esq., to the same important fact, is still 
more explicit and pertinent. Having ad- 
verted to other great improvements that 
were apparent, he continues : — " But while 
these points are confessedly of high im- 
portance, there is another which at once 
embraces and outweighs them all — I mean 
the diffusion of vital Christianity. I know 
that great apprehensions were entertained, 
especially in this country, lest, on the ces- 
sation of slavery, the negroes should break 
away at once from their masters and their 
ministers. But freedom has come, and 
while their masters have not been forsaken, 
their religious teachers have become dearer 
to them than ever. Under the banner of 
liberty the churches and meeting-houses 
have been enlarged and multiplied, the at- 
tendance has become regular and devout, 
the congregations have, in many cases, 
been more than doubled — above all, the 
conversion of souls (as we have reason to 
believe) has been going on to an extent 
never before known in these colonies. In 
a religious point of view, as I have before 
hinted, the wilderness in many places has 
indeed begun to ' blossom as the rose ;' « in- 
stead of the thorn,' has ' come up the fir- 
tree, and instead of the briar, has come up 
the myrtle-tree;' and it shall be to the 
Lord for a name — for an everlasting sign 
that shall not be cut off." 

In another part of his journal Mr. Cand- 
ler remarks, " The Baptists are more 
numerous as a religious body than any 
other, and have by far the greatest influ- 
ence over the minds of the people in mat- 
ters of every kind. There are twenty* 
Baptist missionaries here, having among 
them seventy-three congregational stations, 
which, from the great distance some of them 
lie from each other, considered individually, 
cannot receive ' a pastor's Sabbath-care' 
more than once in three weeks. Public 
worship is kept up, however, at most of 
these stations ; and when the stated minis- 
ter is absent, the schoolmaster officiates, or 
the leaders hold what they call a prayer- 
meeting. Attached to these stations are 
21,777 church members, and 21,111 in- 
quirers who are seeking admission to 



See Note, p. 112. 



membership ; they have also 9159 record- 
ed Sabbath-scholars ; their numbers, added 
together, amounting in all to 52,047, show 
us the number of what may be termed the 
more constant attenders of Baptist chapels ; 
but if we include others belonging to the 
religious body who do attend, and the aged, 
the sick, and children who do not attend, 
we shall swell the number to perhaps 
100,000, or a fourth part of the whole 
population. Several of these congregations 
are very large, filling chapels that hold 
2000, 3000, and even 4000 people. It will 
be seen how impossible it is for the mis- 
sionaries, under these circumstances, to 
exercise anything like pastoral family 
oversight, or to know much of the individ- 
uals who place themselves under their care: 
this deficiency the Baptists and Wesleyan 
Methodists endeavour to supply by class 
leaders. The denomination called Native 
Baptists are under the teaching of black 
and coloured men, who were once leaders 
in other congregations, but have broken 
off and set up as ministers for themselves. 
Their number is said to be 8000, assem- 
bling at twenty-five different stations, the 
ministers fourteen. The Wesleyan Metho- 
dists have among them thirty-one mission- 
aries, a large number of stations, 23,822 
members and probationers, and 2664 Sab- 
bath scholars ; their total numbers may be 
supposed to comprise 40,000 people ; and 
if we add the late seceding missionaries 
and their congregations, which already 
comprise about 4000 actual members, we 
may consider the Methodist body to be 
50,000. The Moravian missionaries are 
ten, each attached to a separate congrega- 
tion of, perhaps, on an average, 700 people, 
but I should hardly think so many : take 
their number at 7000. The Presbyterian 
missionaries are ten, with six catechists and 
teachers ; each missionary, as in the case 
of the Moravians, having, with but little 
exception, a separate station of ministerial 
labour: the number belonging to this class 
I would estimate at 7000. The London 
Missionary Society has eight missionaries, 
superintending twelve congregations, none 
of them very large : their number is proba- 
bly about 8000. The Oberlin Institute 
furnishes five missionaries, who have, per- 
haps, 3000 people ; making the Indepen- 
dents, or Congregationalists altogether 
about 11,000. The Church of Scotland 
has two large chapels, one at Kingston, the 



112 



JAMAICA : 



other at Falmouth, with, perhaps, 2000 
members. 

« We have thus a total of 185,000 dis- 
senters from the Established Church in 
Jamaica, who may be said to be living 
under some religious care; the remainder 
of the people, amounting to 220,000, either 
belong to no religious denomination what- 
ever, and attend no place of public wor- 
ship, or rank as belonging to the Establish- 
ment. The Church Missionary Society 
has eight missionaries here, eleven cate- 
chists who are schoolmasters, and six 
assistant teachers. Allow this body of re- 
ligious instructors 4000, or perhaps we 
may say 6000, and the fifty Episcopal 
churches and chapels 800 each on the 
average, we give the Church of England 
46,000 members. The Jews are 5000, and 
the Roman Catholics 1000. Let us re- 
capitulate: — Baptists, 10^,000; Methodists, 
50,000 ; Moravians, 7000 ; Presbyterians, 
7000; Congregationalists, 11,000; Esta- 
blished Church, 46,000; Jews, 5000; Ro- 
man Catholics, 1000— total, 237,000; 
leaving a population of at least 163,000 
who have neither schools nor religious in- 
struction of any kind."* 

From these statements it will appear that 
many individual churches are very large 
compared with churches in England. The 
most numerous are among the Wesleyans 
and Baptists, and are found in the princi- 
pal towns. The number of Wesleyan com- 
municants, meeting in their chapel at 
Montego Bay, is (as given in their report 
for 1842) 1255; of Baptists, lately under 
the pastoral care of the Rev. Thomas 
Burchell, 1657 ; the number in church fel- 
lowship at the Wesleyan chapel at Fal- 
mouth is 1983 ; that of the Baptist chapel, 
1894. The total number of members in 
society among the Wesleyans, meeting in 
their chapel in Spanish Town, is about 
1884 ; the Baptist church at the same place 
contains 2680. The church meeting at 
Coke Chapel, Kingston (Wesleyan), con- 
tains 5149 members; the Baptist church 
East Queen Street, in the same city, 3959; 
and so on in proportion throughout all the 
stations in the island. 

Among the Wesleyans and other de- 
nominations, applicants for church-fellow- 

* This estimate was made in 1840. Many of the 
churches and congregations have considerably in- 
creased in number since that period. Ministers also 
have been multiplied. 



ship are usually received individually as 
they offer themselves, or are found to pos- 
sess the requisite qualifications. Among 
the Baptists, although each individual 
previously undergoes a rigid examination, 
members are often added by 100 and up- 
wards at one time. In some cases 200 
persons have been added to a single church 
in one day; 400 were once added in one 
year to the church at Spanish Town ; and 
at Brown's Town and Bethany, in St. 
Anne's, as many as 700 and upwards were 
baptized and received into fellowship during 
the same space of time. In some of the 
larger churches the additions have ave- 
raged 200 each for several years past. 
The clear increase of members to the Wes- 
leyan and Moravian churches since 1823, 
or during the last twenty years, the writer 
is unable to ascertain, but the number 
added to the Baptist churches within that 
period, exclusively of decrease by exclu- 
sions and deaths, has been little short of 
27,000, thus averaging, since the year 
1823, a clear increase of 1350 per annum. 
The following table will show the progres- 
sive rate of increase since 1835, with other 
particulars : 



Year. 


Baptized. 


Restored. 


Excluded. 


Marriages. 


1835 


2606 


210 


156 


1468 


1836 


2950 


205 


2i3 


881 


1837 


2120 


283 


296 


705 


1838 


2874 


352 


267 


1942 


1839 


3457 


161 


541 


1614 


1840 


4684 


420 


461 


1256 


1841 










1842 


2659 


340 


777 


496 



Nor is the cause advancing less rapidly 
at the present time. Never before indeed 
have the missionaries in Jamaica been 
blessed with a fairer and brighter prospect. 
The clear increase of the Baptist churches 
alone for the year just closed.- is 2309, and 
multitudes have crowded to fill up the ranks 
of inquirers vacated by those who had suc- 
ceeded to a more close and holy fellowship. 
God not only seems to be going with his 
servants, but to have gone before them. 
Wherever they direct their operations they 
find an open door; wherever they stand 
up, beneath a tree, beneath a shed, in a 
negro hut, or in a chapel, they are sure to 
be surrounded by listening multitudes. A 
holy influence is evidently breathed upon 
the people, creating a hungering and thirst- 
ing after the bread and water of life, which 



ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 



113 



nothing but the Spirit of God can satisfy. 
In every direction are the people calling for 
the messengers of salvation, and whenever 
they see them coming from afar, they seem 
exultingly to exclaim, "How beautiful upon 
the mountains are the feet of Him that 
hringelh good tidings — that publisheth 
peace — that bringeth good tidings of good 
— that publisheth salvation!" 

Of this general eagerness to hear the 
Gospel it is unnecessary to furnish more 
than one or two instances. The first is 
an application made to the author by a 
poor black man, on behalf of himself and 
others, who had been for some time de- 
prived ofthe meansof Christian instruction, 
and the other is a communication from a 
medical gentleman to a friend in England. 

" To the Rev. Mr. Phillippo. 

" 3d May, 1841. 

" My Dear Minister — I have now to 
Right, and beg you to assist us, as now we 
are Sheep without a Shepherd, and we will 
be glad to have you, my Dear Minister, to 
enclose us again as so much sheep that 
have gone astray, by having no Pastor. 
So by our free will we shall be much thank- 
ful to my dear minister if you will come 
amongst us, that we may carry on God's 
work once more again, and satisfy we 
hungry soul ; and we request the chappie 
to be register for the Baptist Missionary 
Society. The name of the place is Con- 
tent. 

" Signed on behalf of the family, 

" John Duglass." 

" During the Lord's day I spent at 
Sligoville, a party of people came from a 
distance to beg of Mr. P. to go to take pos- 
session of a chapel belonging to some 
Native Baptists who could not get on alone. 
These people, about six in number, came 
the Sunday previous. They had applied 
many times during twelve months to get 
Mr. P. to go, but he refused, on account of 
the dislance and his own numerous engage- 
ments. This time they determined not to 
go without getting him to comply with their 
request. Mr. P. was from home, but here 
they remained until he returned, which 
was not until the following Sunday even- 
ing. 

" He again excused himself, but they 
would hear nothing of it ; they were sure 
if minister would come he would do them 



good ; and they sat themselves down on 
the grass, determined not to go till he con- 
sented. They continued urging their re- 
quest until he promised to visit them. It 
was now Monday, and Mr. P. offered to go 
on the following Wednesday. They were 
satisfied, and the whole of them started 
home directly to carry the news. Mr. P. 
invited me to accompany him, and early on 
the appointed morning we set off, with 
another medical man, to the place called 
the 'Above Rocks,' in St. Thomas's in the 
Vale. Tt was a magnificent ride. It 
could only be accomplished on horseback, 
as it was in some piaces so steep as to re- 
quire us to dismount and lead our horses, 
while in other parts it was a steep mountain 
pass about two feet wide, with a mountain 
on one side and a tremendous precipice on 
the other. We came, after a ride of twenty 
miles, to the district where these poor 
people resided, which was very populous, 
appearing to be estates thrown up and 
bought in small lots by the people. All 
was in beautiful cultivation ; there were no 
signs here ofthe predicted barbarism; the 
entire valley was like a panorama. 

" The ground was very undulatory, and 
covered as far as the eye could reach with 
plantains, bananas, yams, cocoa-nuts, with 
huts and houses. A guide met us about 
three miles from our destination, and at 
length we arrived at a hut prepared for us, 
the people all anxiously waiting our com- 
ing. We begged some yam, as we had 
come a long ride without any provisions. 
Three or four set to work, lighted a fire, 
killed a chicken, and as soon as possible 
brought it to table, with a plenty of cocoa, 
yams, plantains, and other things. A box 
was at the window, in which some bees 
were at work, and while we were look- 
ing and praising the man for his con- 
trivance, he said he thought ministers and 
doctors would like some honey ; so without 
any ceremony he took his primitive bee- 
hive into the open air, and abstracted the 
honey, regardless of the stings of hundreds 
of the bees who swarmed upon him. We 
finished our repast, and went to the chapel, 
which resembled a barn in England, with 
a few seats in it. Many people came, 
though it was in the middle of the day. A 
short service was held, and an arrange- 
ment made for preaching once a fortnight. 
The field is a very fine one for a zealous 
missionary, containing, it is supposed. 



114 



JAMAICA: 



10,000 inhabitants. The people are lite- 
rally hungering and thirsting after right- 
eousness ; they have been endeavouring to 
carry on the service of God among them- 
selves because they were unable to obtain 
other instruction, but they have at length 
made an effort which will prove to their 
advantage." 



From this wonderful concurrence of ani- 
mating circumstances, and the co-operation 
of other favourable events, how bright and 
glorious becomes the prospect of the future! 
But the most interesting feature by which 
that prospect is distinguished, so far at 
least as human instrumentality is con- 
cerned, is that which regards the employ- 
ment of native labourers, many of whom, 
possessing zeal, talent, and piety, are now 
rising up in our churches. Irrespective of 
other advantages, it is almost impossible 
to conceive how much such an agency will 
contribute to the general diffusion of know- 
ledge and religion, especially with that 
training which they are about to receive 
in the theological institution now founded 
by the Baptist missionaries, in connexion 
with the parent society. 

And not only so, but the importance of 
Jamaica as a field of missionary operations 
is not to be determined by prospects con- 
fined to its own shores. It is to be esti- 
mated by its relative and geographical po- 
sition. It is to be viewed in reference to 
the influence it may exert on the neigh- 
bouring islands and continent. And for 
this purpose how commanding, and in 
every way how advantageous, is its situa- 
tion ! In the midst of the Caribbean Sea 
— but a hw days' sail from the vast conti- 
nent of South America and the confederated 
states of the Mexican Union on the one 
hand, and Cuba, Puerto Rico, St. Domingo, 
and the whole of the western archipelago 
on the other, — in the very centre of a popu- 
lation estimated at 20,000,000 of human 
beings, all literally perishing for lack of 
knowledge. 

What may Jamaica ultimately prove to 
them if British Christians aid her in the 
enterprise ? She might prove to them what 
Britain has been to her— a depot of the 
word of life — a centre of heavenly light — 
the chief instrument of their political, in- 
tellectual, social, moral, and religious reno- 
vation. By what means ?— • By qualifying 



and sending forth her own sons as mis- 
sionaries. 

Jamaica might indeed become spiritually 
what she is politically — the key-stone to 
the possession of the New World — a kind 
of rallying post for the army of the living 
God, in its efforts to subjugate the whole 
continent of South America to the " obe- 
dience of faith." 

Nor do the missionaries bound their ex- 
pectations with reference to the influence 
of Jamaica as a field of missionary triumph 
even by the shores of the south and the 
west. The day of jubilee has come, and 
arrangements are already made for send- 
ing back her long exiled sons to the land 
of their fathers, that they may assist in 
diffusing throughout the African continent 
the blessings of wisdom and of the " fear 
of the Lord." 

In a word, who can tell but that by such 
instrumentality (for it often happens that 
those whom God intends to honour he 
usually prepares for it by severe discipline) 
— who can tell but that, as if in some 
measure compensative of her wrongs, it is 
not the determination of Infinite Wisdom 
to reserve for Africa the honour and the 
glory of ushering in the millennium? — 
" for there are first that shall be last, and 
there are last that shall be first." 

Who can tell but that we even now be- 
hold the dawn of the coming day, when 
the bright " bow of Christianity, commenc- 
ing in the heavens and encompassing the 
earth, shall include the children of every 
clime and colour beneath the arch of its 
promise and the glory of its protection?" 

Inspired at the thought of such a glori- 
ous consummation, who will not suppli- 
cate, and in the devotion of his heart 
pray— 

" O thou who in ancient times didst 
send forth thy Seraphim to touch as with 
a live coal from thine altar thine own con- 
secrated prophet to perfect and purify him 
for his high mission, send down upon us 
all thy heavenly influence — baptize us with 
the Holy Ghost, that thy ministers may be 
as flames of fire — that thy churches may 
catch the missionary flame — that it may 
burn till the whole earth shall reflect its 
splendour, and with all her melody of 
tongues proclaim the Tabernacle of God 
is with Men !" 



ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 



115 



CHAPTER XVI. 
religious state, continued. 

Sect. I. — Presumptive Evidences of the actual 
Piety of Jamaica Churches — Character of the Mis- 
sionaries — Nature and Extent of Scriptural Know- 
ledge possessed by Candidates for Church-fellow- 
ship — By Members in general — Manner of Admit- 
ting Members — Great Christian Principle and Feel- 
ing manifested by them. 

Sect. II. — Description of Inquirers and Catechumens 
— Nature and Objects of their Connexion with the 
different Denominations — Usual Term of Probation 
among Baptists for Church-fellowship — Average 
Number of Exclusions — Intimate Knowledge pos- 
sessed by Ministers of the State of their Churches 
— Discipline, Faithfulness, and Impartiality of its 
Administration — Christian Consistency of Members 
— Testimonies — Investigation of Cases of alleged 
Delinquency — Church Meetings — Members' Know- 
ledge of Scriptural Discipline — Distinguished Pre- 
valence of a Spirit of Prayer — Piety and Fervour 
of Social Exercises. 

Sect. III. — Sacrifices made by Members, of Time, 
Comfort, Property, and Freedom — Persecution — 
Martyrdom — Spirit exemplified under these circum- 
stances. 

Sect. IV. — Love of Converts towards each other — 
How displayed — Charity of the Treatment of Of- 
fences — Attention to Poor and Afflicted — Mutual 
esteem — Love for the Service of God's House — 
Attendance on the Means of Grace — Regard for 
the Interests of Zion generally — Attachment to 
their Ministers — Astonishing changes in Individual 
Character. 

Sect. V. — Zeal of Jamaica Christians — Their Liber- 
ality — Their great Personal and Individual Exer- 
tions — ('lass and Ticket System — Its operation in 
Furtherance of the Gospel — Great Self-devotion of 
many of the Members of the Churches — Astonish- 
ing Effects produced by their Individual Labours. 

Sect. VI. — Experience and Conduct of Members in 
general in seasons of calamity — On Beds of Sick- 
ness and Death — Their anxious Concern for the 
Welfare of the Churches to which they belong, and 
for the general Interests of Religion — Numerous 
Instances of Happy and Triumphant Deaths of 
Adults and Sunday-School Children. 

Section I Unaccustomed, as the 

Church has been, to such enlarged suc- 
cess, it is not surprising that doubts should 
have arisen whether the numbers thus 
represented as united to Christ and to his 
people were really the subjects of convert- 
ing grace. As it is not the prerogative of 
missionaries, any more than that of other 
men, to know the heart, it would be impos- 
sible to return a decided answer in the 
affirmative. They can only express a 
hope that the Christian public will give 
them credit for being what they profess to 
be — " Men of God." " Anxious to save 
themselves and those that hear them, in 
all things endeavouring to show them- 
selves patterns of good works ; in doctrine, 



showing uncorruptness, gravity, sincerity, 
sound speech that cannot be condemned." 
Aware of the awful responsibilities of their 
office, and anxious, as their highest aim, 
to promote the glory of their God and Sa- 
viour, they trust that they would rather 
spend their days in sowing the seed of the 
Divine word, uncheered by the sight of a 
single blade, than crowd the field with 
noxious tares : the more so as, indepen- 
dently of the higher concerns of the soul, 
they will be, to a considerable degree, an- 
swerable for all the reproach which un- 
worthy converts might bring upon the 
Redeemer's name. Under such circum- 
stances, and in the prospect of that day 
when they shall have to give an account 
of their stewardship to their great Lord 
and Master (a period that often appears 
before them in all its awful solemnity and 
importance), it is not too much to ask to 
be believed when they affirm, that they 
have received none into communion with 
the churches of which they have had the 
oversight but those whom they had reason 
to hope were " approved of Christ;" nor 
retained any in connexion with them who 
afforded evidence of inconsistent and un- 
holy lives. The admission of members to 
the churches in Jamaica has, the author 
is persuaded, been an object of as great 
and unremitting care to missionaries of all 
denominations as to ministers and churches 
in England. Had it not been thus, he has 
no hesitation in asserting, especially with 
regard to the Baptists, that their numbers 
would have been more than doubled. The 
latter body has always connected with 
them a number of individuals denominated 
inquirers, and who have generally amount- 
ed to at least one-third of the communi- 
cants. These would have been glad to 
have advanced at once to the privileges of 
members ; but have been retained as in- 
quirers for twelve months or upwards, to 
afford evidence of a spiritual change by 
their daily walk and conversation. There 
are, however, certain presumptive evi- 
dences of piety by which we may judge of 
the validity of a Christian profession, and 
which we hesitate not to apply to the 
Christians of Jamaica. 

The most untutored of those who have 
enjoyed the advantages of Christian in- 
struction for any length of time, have a 
correct, if not an extensive, knowledge of 
the great and essential doctrines of the 



116 



JAMAICA : 



Gospel — of the proper Deity of the Father, ' 
Son, and Holy Spirit — the depravity of 
human nature — the plan of salvation, and 
the necessity of Divine influence to regene- 
rate the heart: indeed, the knowledge of 
these fundamental truths is absolutely ne- 
cessary to admission into the churches. 
In districts where the Gospel has been 
Ions; and faithfully preached, the greater 
part of the candidates, to a greater or less 
degree, have a tolerably correct idea of the 
nature and attributes of God, and of the 
doctrines and duties of Christianity in ge- 
neral. The truth of these assertions the 
following dialogues and anecdotes, in ad- 
dition to numbers of a similar kind that 
have been already before the public in 
missionary periodicals, will sufficiently at- 
test. The replies given by one of the 
middle-class of country people at a church- 
meeting at Spanish Town may be regarded 
as a fair specimen of the knowledge and 
experience of the peasantry in general 
throughout the district. According to con- 
stant practice, the individual was interro- 
gated by the pastor of the church and 
members indiscriminately, who were as- 
sembled at a church meeting : — 

Minister. Well, Thomas, do you know 
who Jesus Christ is? 

Candidate, Him de Son of God, minis- 
ter. 

M. What did Jesus Christ come into the 
world to do? 

C Him come to save poor sinners. 

M. Do you think he is able to save sin- 
ners. 

C. Me know him able. 

M. How can you know that he is able 
to save them ? 

C, Because him make de world : and if 
him make de world, him able to do all 
tings : and minister no tell we often-time 
dis make him left him fader trone, and 
come into dis sinful world. 

M. What is it necessary for us to know 
and feel before we can love and serve God 
as we ought? 

C. VVe must know and feel truly dat me 
is great sinner — never do one ting good 
since me born — before me can sarve God 
in a right manner. 

M. God's holy word says — " Except a 
man be born again he cannot see the king- 
dom of God." What is meant by being 
born again? 

C. It mean a new heart, minister. 



M. Do you think you have got a new 
heart? 

C. Me hope so. 

M. What makes you think you have? 

C. Because what me bin love before, me 
hate now ; and what me hate before, me 
love now. Once me love to do devil's 
work — blaspheme, carouse, and do all 
wicked ting : now me love precious Massa 
Jesus, who pill him precious blood for me, 
poo dyin' sinner. 

M. How was it that you came to give 
up your wicked ways? 

C. Me heary minister preach sometime, 
and me link some person tell minister false 
upon me, and me get vex ; bine by, sick 
take me, and broder and sister come talk 
to me, and pray for me, and make me 
promise, if God so good, make me raise 
up again, me give up me heart to precious 
Massa Jesus ; den me tink upon what min- 
ister and broder and sister say, and beg 
God to have mercy on me poor soul. 

M. Are you ever tempted to turn back 
again into the world? 

C. Massa, debil too busy : him some 
time full up my heart wid all bad thought; 
him no lub for see poor somebody like a 
me sarve Massa Jesus good, none at all. 

M. But when you are tempted to for- 
sake Christ by turning back again into the 
world, what do you do? 

C. Minister, me heart run to precious 
Massa Jesus, like piccanniny run to him 
mamma before time in a Africa, when 
white man come make we slave. 

M. Then you would not like to forsake 
your Lord and Saviour? 

C. O me, minister! If me turn from 
me blessed Jesus, den where me go ? — 
(looking up to heaven, and the tears filling 
his eyes, he exclaimed, with all the energy 
he could summon, for tears had almost 
choked his utterance) — forsake me precious 
Massa Jesus ! no, no ; me pray him make 
me dead first! Turn from Massa Jesus! 
No; him too good to me poo' sinner. Me 
only 'fraid precious blessed Jesus turn 
away from me ! But him promise ; and 
me hold upon de promise. 

M. What makes you wish to be bap- 
tized ? 

C. Because Jesus Christ, put under the 
water, rise up again, and me wish to pat- 
tern after him. 

M. Perhaps you think the water will 
wash away your sin ? 



ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 



117 



C. No, no ; water no wash away me 
sin: nothin' but precious Massa Jesus blood 
wash away me sin? 

M. Why do you wish to partake of the 
sacrament ? 

C. Because me heart crave much to 
member Massa Jesus, like me broder and 
sister, how him dead and pill him blood 
for we. While me tan so, — look upon me 
broder and sister when dem setten down 
take de supper, me heart fret ; me seems 
like me tranger, no belong to God family 
like a dem. 

M. You don't think you will have no- 
thing more to do, and that the devil will 
not tempt you any more, if you should be 
received into the church? 

C. No, me sweet minister. Devil and 
me own heart strive more against me den, 
because dem much vex me make de world 
know me no belong to dem again. 

Questions by two or three of the mem- 
bers : — 

Mem. Well," my friend, me hear what 
answer you give to minister; but make me 
ax you one or two question. Who you 
say Jesus Christ is, and what him come 
into this world to do? 

A. Jesus Christ is God's son. Him 
come into de world to save sinners. 

Q. Who is the Holy Spirit, and what 
does the Holy Spirit do for you? 

A. The Holy Spirit is God too; and 
him change me sinful heart, make me fit 
for heaven. 

Q. Is there more than one God? 

A. No ; three persons and one God. 

Q. Who are they? 

A. Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. 

Q. What is your greatest enemy? 

A. Me own heart. 

Q. What do you mean to do with your 
heart ? 

A. Keep on pray to God to soften it. 

Another. You say you began to think 
about your soul, and cry to God when you 
sick: suppose you had died in your sin, 
what would have become of you? 

A. If me dead in me sin, me gone to 
hell. 

Third. You know, broder, I know you 
long time; know you to bin before time 
very passionate, and if any person do any 
ting to you, you begin to fight and blas- 
pheme. Suppose any one know you to 
come to the Gospel, try to vex and strike 
you, what you do? 



A. Me do so (putting his hands behind 
him), and me look up, pray to God to 
make me forgive him and to change him 
heart, make him love God too. 

Another. Suppose any one should offer 
you a great sum of money to forsake 
Christ, would you do it? 

C. No ; me love Massa Jesus more : 
what money can do for me when me heart 
grieve? when me sick, and when me dead? 
God book say, " What profit a man have 
if him gain de world and lose him own 
soul." 

This candidate having withdrawn, in- 
quiries were made of the friends present 
who resided near him, as to his walk and 
conversation, since he had become an in- 
quirer; the answers to which being deemed 
satisfactory, a few more questions were 
put to him, as to his willingness to conform 
to the rules of the church, should he be re- 
ceived as a member, together with a state- 
ment of the duties he would be expected to 
discharge towards the cause of Christ in 
general; after which the minister signified 
his approval of him, on behalf of the 
church. From that time to the present, 
embracing a period of two years, his con- 
duct has been that of a pious and devoted 
follower of Christ. 

The following is an extract of a letter 
addressed to the author, by a pious lady, 
the wife of a captain in the army. The 
individual whose Christian experience it re- 
cords is a respectable female of colour, who 
has been for many years the leader of a 
class of females connected with the Bap- 
tist Church at Spanish Town, — an office 
filled by others equally enlightened and de- 
voted — and has been a most valuable helper 
in that capacity in the work of God. As 
this will give an idea of the character and 
qualifications of some of our leaders or 
helpers, no apology perhaps will be deem- 
ed necessary for its insertion : 

" My dear Friend, — I feel most anx- 
ious to communicate my thoughts to you 
on a subject that 1 know is both near and 
dear to your heart — I mean the conversion 

of a sinner. I refer to Miss , who 

has given me an account of the Lord's 
merciful dealings with her, which I here 
subjoin. After stating the circumstances 
which led to her first attending upon the 
means of grace, this new trophy of re- 
deeming love thus continues her narrative 



118 



JAMAICA: 



to me: — { I went to chapel again on the 
following Sabbath ; the text was from the 
22d chapter of St. Matthew, our Lord's 
parable of the marriage of the king's son. 
And when the minister explained to us who 
they were who would not go to the mar- 
riage feast, and what kind of a character 
the man was " who had not on a wedding 
garment," I said to myself, this is exactly 
my state : do I not content myself with 
the form of religion, without the power of 
divine grace on my soul? Alas ! what do 
I know of true holiness? I am as igno- 
rant as the beast that perisheth : and he 
appeared so perfectly to describe my state 
that I went home quite miserable. I went 
to bed, but could not sleep ; I felt myself a 
condemned sinner, and the more I looked 
back on my past life the more I saw my 
sinfulness and vileness. I continued in this 
unhappy state till Sunday. I went again 
to chapel. The minister preached from 
the 125th Psalm, which appeared to lay 
my heart quite bare before my eyes, and 
let me see my every secret sin ; but he led 
me to the Saviour, and a hope sprang up 
in my mind that Jesus would be also my 
Saviour. He referred us to different chap- 
ters in the Bible, which he advised us to 
read on our return home, and judge for 
ourselves. I did as he desired, and a 
peace took possession of my mind that I 
had never experienced before. I went on 
my knees to pray, and I felt a hope that 
God was reconciled to me through Christ, 
and that same blessed hope has never since 
forsaken me. I feel my ignorance very 
much, never having mixed with any re- 
ligious people; but I now read my Bible 
every day, with prayer, and I feel already 
increasing in knowledge, that I hope I may 
soon be able to instruct others. O ! that I 
could do any thing to glorify God ! You 
know not how it pains me when I look 
back on my past life, and see how I have 
dishonoured so kind, such a long-suffering 
and merciful Lord God ! I am grieved 
and shocked at my ingratitude; but I trust 
the remainder of my life will be spent dif- 
ferently — indeed 1 wish to be led by the 
spirit of God, as a child by its mother : 
when I hear so many of the poor blacks 
pray in chapel so sweetly, I feel quite 
ashamed of myself. My friends and old 
acquaintances often ask me what has hap- 
pened to me, if I have been sick or from 
home ? I am afraid to go near them, lest 



they should draw me aside. I only now 
mix with God's people, to try to improve 
in the knowledge of God ; for what would 
it profit me if 1 gained the whole world 
and was to lose rny own soul ? — but I 
would not turn back for the world. No : 
ten thousand worlds would be a poor com- 
pensation for the loss of my immortal 
soul ! And I feel more real happiness now 
than I ever did in my life.' 

" Such is the substance of 's inte- 
resting conversation with me ; and as I 
know it would afford you a subject for 
thankfulness to the triune God, 1 have 
thought it right to tell you of it, as a means 
of strengthening your hands, and encou- 
raging your heart. And that the Lord 
may give you many more souls for your 
hire is the earnest prayer of, 

" Your affectionate friend in the best of 
bonds, 

«B. T ." 

The following conversation is of a dif- 
ferent kind, though in some respects of 
equal value and importance. It took place 
some time since between an aged deacon 
of the church at Spanish Town, the owner 
of a small coffee plantation, and an over- 
seer on one of the estates, and was related 
to the author on the following day. The 
estate had for many years been the scene 
of this good man's pious and useful la- 
bours. Going past the residence of the 
overseer, who was entertaining a number 
of his companions, on a particular occa- 
sion, he was requested to enter the room 
where all were assembled, and was thus 
accosted : — 

Overseer. Well, sir, I am told you are a 
preacher ? 

Deacon. I hope I am a praying man, 
sir ; perhaps that is what you mean : as 
white people often call praying preaching. 

0. No ; I mean that you take a book 
and preach to the people out of it. 

D. How can I preach from a book 
when I dont able to read ? Massa tink me 
dont know better than to make fool of 
tneself, take a book and preach, when all 
de people too know me cant read ? 

O. Well ; I don't know what you call 
it. Don't you say prayers to the people, 
or talk to them, or something? 

D. Yes ; I talk to my neighbour and 
friend, truly, and I am not ashamed of it 
neider. Religion do good to me, make me 



ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 



119 



happy ; and I wants my fellow-creature to 
feel happy too. 

O. Well, then, you are a preacher. 

D. Massa can call me what him like ; 
me satisfy ; but me mouth cant shut ; me 
must pray and talk for God as long as me 
have breath. 

O. Oh, I see : perhaps you could preach 
to us, although you don't know a letter of 
the book. Who betrayed Jesus Christ? — 
for, as you are a preacher, you must 
know — (jestingly). 

JD. Judas betrayed the Lord Jesus Christ 
for thirty pieces of silver. 

O. Oh, I didn't know that you knew. 
Well, but whose wife did David take 
away ? 

JD. Uriah wife, Bersheba. 

O. Where did Uriah find his wife? 

JD. In David's house. 

O. How can that be, when Uriah was 
slain ? 

JD. Beg massa pardon, but Uriah was 
not slain till David put him to the fore 
front of the battle. 

0. Was David a good man ? 

JD. Yes ; a man iffter God's own heart. 

O. What ! after he committed murder ? 
Then that shows that God approved of 
what David did ; and your parsons are al- 
ways sending people to , who don't 

do half what he did. 

JD. Ah, massa ! you read God's word 
and believe that? When David sin, him 
fall ; and when him once fall, him do but 
anything ; but though God love David, 
him dont love David's sin. Massa say 
him read de Bible. Suppose massa look 
into de Bible now, him find God so angry 
wid David, because him sin, dat he sent to 
know de tree ting him will choose, and 
den allow him son to drive him from de 
trone. 

O. I see very well that you are a 
preacher, and I must say, I did not think 
you knew so much ; but you had better 
not fill the people's heads with these things; 
they begin to know too much already. 

JD. Massa, God's word is good, and I 
bin say to massa before time me must tell 
me fellow-creatur what good religion done 
for me ; for if it good for me it good for 
dem, and God's word say me must not let 
me broder and sister alone, but must try 
and bring dem all to Jesus Christ, dat dem 
blood no rest upon me head in the last day. 



Observes a missionary, writing to the 
author during the insurrection in 1832, 
" Our poor people are very much annoyed 
by the officers of militia. The following 
is a conversation which passed between 
one of them and a memher of our church, 
a sergeant in the regiment : 

Officer. So you are a praying man ; 
when we go on detachment I will put you 
in the front ; I will take care of you. 

Native. I may be as well off in the front 
as in the rear, sir. 

0. Well, I tell you beforehand, I will 
take you to blow all these ministers' brains 
out. 

N. Are de minister guilty, den, sir? 

O. To be sure they are. 

N. Don't de law of we country say 
every man is innocent until him found 
guilty? If dem try and condemn already, 
den it will be time enough to blow dem 
brain out. You prosecute we minister too 
much because you don't like we to get no 
larnin. 

0. Oh, oh ! But, as an honest man, 
answer me one question. Don't these min- 
isters teach the people to rob their owners 
in order to give to them ? Answer me at 
once. 

N. No, sir. If dem did, we should 
know it not right, and would have nothing 
to do with them. Don't land plenty more 
have sarvant weself? should we uphold 
minister tellen de people to rob dem master? 

O. But as you are a leader, don't you 
get money for preaching? 

N. No, I do not, sir. 

O. Then you have a better heart than 
I have ; but why do you teach the people? 

N. Because it is my duty. 

O. Well, I will never believe you would 
labour with the people without you got 
something by it. 

N. If massa help a poor person horse 
out a gully (ditch) when him fall in, and 
like to drown, would massa want pay for 
it ? An' don't man worth more dan a 
beast ? 

O. But what makes you pray ? 

JS~. Because I am a sinner. 
0. I suppose you found that out when 
you were converted. 

IV. I was convinced before I was con- 
verted, sir, and then I prayed to God. 
O. What do you mean by sin? 

N. There is two kinds of sin, — original 
sin and actual sin. 1 mean, I myself have 



120 



JAMAICA: 



broken God's laws, and derefore I pray to 
God for forgiveness through Jesus Christ. 

0. What do you mean by original sin? 

IV. The sin of our first parents. But 
please to let me ask if you don't pray to 
God? 

0. Yes ; but yon pray too much. 

N. No; God tell we to pray always 
and not to faint. But please let me ask 
you another question. Don't you call God 
your father in the Prayer Book ? What 
ungrateful children we be if we don't obey 
our Father's command ; an if we acknow- 
ledge Him to be our King how shameful 
not to be loyal to him. But 1 can account 
for it. 

O. How ? how ? 

IV. Because de scripture say de carnal 
mind is enmity against God, not subject 
to the law of God, neither indeed can be. 
And if de spirit of God don't teach we, we 
is dark and ignorant people, dow we know 
plenty a tings else. 

O. What do you mean by the Spirit? 
the spirit of rum? 

IV. O fie, sir. You call yourself a 
Christian, and make a mock at spiritual 
tings ? 

O. What else do you mean by the spirit ? 
did you ever see it? 

IV. It is felt, sir, but not seen. 

O. How do you know if there is such a 
thing if you never saw it? 

IV. Don't you say, sir, dat a man have 
a good spirit if him do anyting wordy of 
praise, but you never see dat spirit ? You 
believe you have souls, but you never see 
dat soul. An', sir, would a blind man say 
him wouldn't eat because him don't able to 
see de vittel?" 

After a kw questions more, which are 
too indecent to meet the public eye, the 
correspondent adds, " thus ends the con- 
versation. I have sent it to you as the 
poor man related it. to me, not doubting 
but it would be interesting to you to know 
the manner in which our poor Christian 
blacks are enabled to stand their ground 
before their accusers." 

I felt much happiness, said the late ex- 
cellent Missionary, Mr. Coultart, in hear- 
ing the simple narratives of the people. 
One of them, a woman, said, " Ah, massa, 
me tongue so guilty, all bad word, me no 
ready to peak good in same mout ; me 
great sinner, and never tink bout anyting 
good till me hear a broder read ; if me no 



born again me no see kingdom of God. 
Me don't know what dis born again mean 
— it trouble me much, — it no let me rest, — 
none at all. Next night broder come read 
again ; de word trouble me more and more ; 
me no eat, no shut me eye, fear me open 
it in hell. Next day me send for de broder 
to come wid de book ; him come and read ; 
de book no tell me trouble any more ; him 
tell me Jesus came to save sinner, great 
sinner, no matter how great, so me go to 
him; him forgive all: — not for me good- 
ness, but for him own goodness, — den me 
weep much, for Jesus Christ so good ; me 
no able to do nothing for long time, but 
tell of him kindness to poor me." When 
another first went to work on the estate to 
which she belonged, her owner asked her 
if she prayed ? " Yes," was her reply. 
" O, that is bad," ho said ; " you will spoil 
all my negroes. Your religion is a nasty 
thing, you must not spread it here !" " O, 
massa," she replied, " religion no a bad 
ting; if your negro love God in him heart, 
him find someting else to do than tief 
(steal) your fowl and your sugar ; religion 
a good ting when nemr heb plenty of 'it.'''' 

I asked a female negro whether she felt 
any sin now her heart was changed. Her 
reply was, " it trouble me too much — it 
tick to me, massa, as close as de clothes 
to me back." To another poor woman 
who was complaining much of the dis- 
couragements she met with, I said, " Well, 
how do you hope to get through them all 
to heaven ? You say you are weak." 
" Yes, me weak for true, massa ; but me 
hang on him arm. Jesus can help — an', 
massa, him promise." 

A letter from a missionary contains the 
following pleasing anecdote : — 

" Three nights ago, a man of decent ap- 
pearance came to relate what he thought 
of himself and of the Saviour ; said he had 
been living for himself, and ' neider did 
know or think anything about God.' The 
greatest part of his time he had lived in 
Kingston, and, changing masters frequently, 
he had, as is the custom in this colony, 
changed his old name with his master, the 
last of whom wished him to become a 
Christian. He asked a friend who be- 
longed to the Baptists to stand for him, but 
he refused, and asked him to think what 
sort of a Christian man could make him : 
' As for him, he no know man's Christian, 
him only know Christian God make.' 



ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 



121 



This puzzled the poor man, who thought 
something in right Christian 'him no 
know ; him made a Christian, but him still 
go on in him old way, Tor him no know 
him doing wrong.' Here I interrupted 
him to learn the force of conscience, in 
the way Paul states it with regard to the 
heathen. I said, ' James, you say you 
did not know God ; you no hear anyting 
about him. When you do sin, you no 
know it sin? Conscience within no tell 
you dat bad ; God angry for dat ]' He 
said, ' Yes, conscience tell me, and trouble 
me much ; but nevertheless me no heed 
conscience much.' William, the friend — 
the faithful friend — as he termed him, 
' courted him to a little prayer-meeting 
conducted by themselves, and dere God 
catch him, poor run atvay ! He see Jesus 
love him, poor ting, an' him want to love 
Jesus, and keep his commands.' I asked 
him who persuaded him to be baptized? 
' William make him hear what Jesus say, 
Believe and be baptize. Now him believe 
Jesus to be the Son of God, and only Sa- 
viour, and him wish to gie himself quite 
up to Jesus, an' take Jesus for him tick 
(staff) to lean upon till him last day on 
earth.' " 

In further illustration of the sound scrip- 
tural knowledge possessed by members of 
Christian churches in Jamaica, and as a 
proof that their thinking powers are deeply 
exercised on these all-engrossing subjects, 
it may be stated that applications are fre- 
quently made by individual members for 
the meaning of particular passages of scrip- 
ture, which have created discussion in their 
social meetings or public places of business. 
Nor is it unusual for the people to request 
their ministers to preach on some particular 
subjects respecting which information is ex- 
tensively sought. A black female requested 
the author, a short time before he left the 
island, to preach on the unpardonable sin, 
saying, if minister pleased, herself and 
several more would like much to hear 
about it, as they had forgotten what minis- 
ter had said about it some time ago. 

Some years since, the friends at Chip- 
ping Norton, Oxfordshire, kindly presented 
to the congregation at Spanish Town, a 
bible and hymn books for the use of the 
pulpit. The subjoined letters of thanks 
addressed to the kind donors, by two mem- 
bers of the church, leaders, one of whom 
was a free woman of colour, and the other 



a young man then a slave, will equally 
illustrate the simplicity and fervour of 
negro piety, as well as its evangelical 
character, and the degree in which it is 
possessed. 

" My dear Christian Friends, — The 
reception of your kind and truly invaluable 
present is as highly estimated as the pre- 
ciousness of such a gift ought to be. May 
the wish and power of dispensing the salu- 
tary comforts and consolations it contains 
be equally yours ! 

" Its precious contents will, 1 hope and 
doubt not, be the means of bringing home 
many a lost and wandering sheep in this 
dark land, and converting many repentant 
sinners to the flock of Christ. In it alone 
do we look for consolation from all the 
evils that surround us in this wicked world. 
There the sinner will find a pardon for his 
sins, which will not be sought for in vain ; 
it will be found to speak peace to the 
troubled mind, consolation to the broken 
spirit, and blessing and happiness to the 
steadfast in faith, a stream of milk and 
honey flowing richly into every heart, 
which shall come to drink of its pure 
fount. May my humble prayer be not in 
vain that the number may not be few, that 
the sacred pages be never unclosed in vain, 
that its holy operation may work its way 
into the hearts of all men, and, finally, 
that the offering may bring down a bless- 
ing on the hearts that bestowed it ; and 
accept the kind wishes of all happiness 
from one, who, though unknown to you, 
is nevertheless An humble believer, 

" Anne Simpson Thomas. 
" Spanish Toivn, Jamaica, 
July 29, 1826." 

" Christian Friends, — Me desire to 
return you our hearty and sincere tanks 
for de present of de books dat we have re- 
ceive, and dat we hope dat de blessing of 
Almighty Fader may descend upon ebery 
ephod dat is use in promote dat course of 
de Gospel, and dat your prayers and our 
prayers may unite togeder in praising Al- 
mighty Fader for de gift of a preached 
Gospel, and in sending his ministers to 
proclaim mercy unto de heathens, and for 
de prosperity of our minister and his dear 
partner in life, dat dey may be spare, and 
dat der days may be prolong, and dat 
massa's ministerial duty may be attend to 
wid dat solemnity of heart and wid dat 



122 



JAMAICA : 



pure affection towards God's glory, and dat 
many sinner may be bless wid de gift of 
de spirit, dat at lass both preacher and 
hearers may be heirs of dat mansion which 
our blessed Massa Jesus had gone to pre- 
pare, and dat de blessing of Almighty 
Fader may be sent upon us, dat we may 
not be weary in welldoing. 

" I remain your humble servant, 

" Richard Bullock. 
" Spanish Town, Jamaica, 
July 28, 1826." 

The manner of admitting members to 
communion is precisely the same as that 
practised in Baptist churches in England, 
and is thus described by individuals who 
were present on an occasion, when the 
qualifications of candidates for church 
fellowship were canvassed. 

" After this conference was concluded," 
say Messrs. Sturge and Harvey, alluding 
to their interview with the officers of the 
church, " we had an opportunity of wit- 
nessing the examination to which the can- 
didates for baptism are subjected. A poor 
old woman was the first examined. She 
was closely questioned by the minister, but 
more especially by the deacons and lead- 
ers, respecting the time and cause of her 
' coming to -religion,' her views in wishing 
to be baptized, and on the person and 
offices of Christ. She appeared to be a 
simple-hearted woman, anxious to forsake 
sin, and to join herself to a praying peo- 
ple ; but her answers did not evince that 
clear acquaintance with the leading doc- 
trines of Christianity which was deemed 
essential ; she was therefore deferred. The 
next probationer, a young man, was deem- 
ed suitable to be received. Before the de- 
cision is made, the candidate is requested 
to withdraw, and those present who are 
acquainted with him give their sentiments 
on the correctness of his outward conduct, 
what change is to be observed in it, and 
whether he is in their opinion a converted 
character. If it is concluded to receive 
him, he is called in, and after being ex? 
horted by the minister not to put his trust 
in the outward ordinance, is informed that 
the church has unanimously concluded to 
admit him as a member ; and on the first 
convenient occasion he is baptized."* 

Section II. — It has been already stated 



From Sturge and Harvey's West Indies, p. 181. 



that there are connected with several of the 
denominations a considerable number of 
persons called inquirers — catechumens or 
probationers. These are generally per- 
sons who, having renounced their sinful 
practices, and expressed a desire to give 
themselves up to God, are enrolled as re- 
gular hearers, and thereby place them- 
selves under the especial superintendence 
of the ministers and churches with which 
they have thus become connected. While 
one particular object of this plan is to en- 
courage religious impressions, and to in- 
duce immediate decision in the ways of 
God by bringing the hopefully penitent 
under regular religious instruction; it, at 
the same time, affords an effectual security 
against the admission of improper charac- 
ters. Hence all, before they are pro- 
posed as members for church fellowship, 
have been in the regular habit of attending 
the house of God, and the various private 
means of grace, and have also been the 
subjects of special " oversight in the 
Lord." 

The term of probation, of course, varies 
according to circumstances, and the views 
of different ministers and churches. 
Among the Baptists it is seldom the case 
that an application is made for an admis- 
sion to the privileges of membership until, 
after a probation of twelve months at least 
— the individual having, during that time, 
as far as could be ascertained, led a con- 
sistent and holy life. 

Some of the questions asked on such 
occasions, and which, if not answered sa- 
tisfactorily, involve the suspension or re- 
jection of the candidate, are such as would 
offend an individual under similar circum- 
stances in England : — Are you in debt 1 — 
Are you married 1 — if not married, do you 
live with any one according to the old 
customs of the country 1 

As an evidence that missionaries are not 
less particular in the admission of members 
than their brethren in England, the writer 
will mention two or three cases out of 
many that could be selected. On Mrs. 
Phillippo's return to England, some years 
ago, for the benefit of her health, she was 
accompanied by a young woman, a na- 
tive, who had been connected as an in- 
quirer with the Church at Spanish Town 
for a period of five years. A minister in 
the country, having had some close reli- 
gious conversation with her, was surprised 



ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 



123 



that she was without the pale of the 
church, and proposed her being baptized 
without delay. Mr. and Mrs. Burchell 
were accompanied home by a similar indi- 
vidual under the same circumstances : and 
very soon after their temporary settlement 
in London, the church under the care of 
Mr. Upton, senior, were so satisfied with 
her piety that their venerable pastor bap- 
tized her. When the author was in Eng- 
land himself, a few years since, he was 
sought out by a young black man, who 
had made his escape from slavery : the 
latter had been attached to the church at 
Spanish Town, and, subsequently, to the 
church at Old Harbour, as an inquirer for 
years. After a private conversation with 
the minister and several members of the 
church at Eagle Street, and after an appli- 
cation to the writer by the venerable and 
zealous pastor, the Rev. Joseph Ivimey, he 
appeared before the church as a candidate, 
was unanimously accepted as a proper 
subject for Christian fellowship and was 
baptized by Mr. Overbury. 

Among those even selected from the 
mass as giving evidence of superior piety, 
many are turned back; and the principal 
concern of missionaries on such occasions 
is lest they have rejected many whom 
Christ has not rejected, rather than lest 
they should have received those whom 
Christ has not received. Of the former, 
as an error of judgment, the writer has 
often had painful evidence, as well as of 
the latter ; one instance of which he will 
adduce. On the morning immediately 
following the day on which he had admi- 
nistered the ordinance of baptism, he was 
thus accosted by his brother missionary, 
the Rev. J. Edmondson, the Wesleyan mi- 
nister, then in Spanish Town : — " My ser- 
vant is in great trouble, crying from morn- 
ing till night, because you did not baptize 
her yesterday. She tells me she was ob- 
jected to because she did not express her- 
self clearly on some essential points ; but 
I can assure you, from the testimony of 
my predecessor, and from my own oppor- 
tunities of judging, that I believe her to be 
a truly sincere and pious Christian. Such, 
indeed, is my opinion of her, that I should 
be glad to receive her into the church 
under my care." 

" If the Lord should spare me until 
next Lord's day," said a brother mis- 
sionary some years ago, " I expect to 



baptize eighty persons. Of these we have 
good reason to hope well ; though some, 
after the strictest examination, deceive us. 
I think I do not exaggerate when T say, 
these have been selected from twice that 
number, who have, even with tears and 
prayers, entreated us to receive them. I 
often feel it painful, indeed, to refuse them 
immediate admission ; but we wish to have 
as extensive a knowledge of their charac- 
ters as possible before we receive them. 
Some of them weep when they are told to 
stop a little longer, and say, ' Massa, sup- 
pose dead take me ; how me die when me 
know dis my duty, an me no do it ?' I 
can only say, I wish them to know that it 
is their duty, and then I shall not object." 
Said another, who had just arrived on the 
island, alluding to a considerable number 
who had been recently added to one of the 
churches : — " It was an interesting specta- 
cle, such an one perhaps as is seldom wit- 
nessed. The greatest caution has been ex- 
ercised in receiving these candidates. 
Many more have been rejected than have 
been received. Their knowledge, doubt- 
less, is scanty ; but many of their prayers 
testify that they are acquainted with the 
fundamental truths of the Gospel. They 
have no inducements to hypocrisy, except 
ridicule and persecution be inducements. 
Mr. C. is as faithful in addressing them as 
man can possibly be ; telling them that it 
will be of no use whatever to be baptized if 
they do not love and serve God : on the 
contrary, it would be far better for them if 
they were never baptized at all." 

A worthy deacon of the church at Spa- 
nish Town, when asked his opinion re- 
specting the experience of a candidate for 
church fellowship, usually observed, when 
the individual appeared forward and talk- 
ative — " Well, you peak very well ; but 
sweet mouth and pretty words dont always 
show dat de heart change : take care, we 
must watch you quite close, see what you 
do. It no hard ting to peak Christian, but 
it quite hard ting to follow up de Christian. 
Massa Jesus Christ say, • Not ebery one 
as say Lord, Lord, shall enter into de 
kingdom, but him as do de loilU " 

In consequence of defective knowledge, 
superstitious notions, the distance at which 
they have lived from the regular means of 
grace, or some act of inconsistency, con- 
siderable numbers of persons constituting 
the Baptist churches have been inquirers 



124 



JAMAICA 



during a period of from three to seven years. 
So far as the author is personally acquaint- 
ed with the ministers and churches of the 
Baptist denomination in Jamaica, he can- 
not but believe that, not only as much, but 
even more caution is exercised in the ad- 
mission of members into their communities, 
than is exercised by ministers and churches 
of any denomination in England. If, in 
relation to the admission of members, errors 
have been committed at all, it has been by 
a practice directly the reverse. As pre- 
viously observed, hundreds of applicants 
for the privileges of church fellowship have 
been again and again rejected ; and, as an 
individual, the author can assure the Chris- 
tian world that on a review of his mission- 
ary life, scarcely anything gives him 
greater pain than the apprehension of the 
injury which he may have inflicted on 
those who have been thus denied, persuad- 
ed that, although comparatively ignorant 
of some of the truths of Christianity, that 
they knew Him whom to know is life 
eternal, and will receive a hearty welcome 
to the " marriage supper of the Lamb." 

Great as is the aggregate number of 
Christians united in church fellowship with 
the various evangelical missionary societies 
in Jamaica, the total number annually ex- 
cluded from them does not probably ex- 
ceed, in proportion to the number of their 
members, the total exclusion from the 
churches in Wreat Britain. With regard 
to other denominations, the writer is un- 
able to speak with certainty, not having 
access to the necessary documents by 
which to form a calculation; but the ex- 
clusions from the Baptist churches for the 
last four or five years, which churches now 
comprise 30,000 members, have scarcely 
averaged two per cent., or more than two 
in a year to a church of 120 members. 
Nor does this comparative fewness of ex- 
clusions arise from any laxity of discipline. 
Such is the system of supervision adopted, 
and which will be hereafter explained, that 
however large the church, or however 
widely its members may be scattered over 
a district, almost every inconsistency is 
known, and every thing of importance is 
at once reported to the church for investi- 
gation. Matters, indeed, which in England 
would be considered trivial are here regard- 
ed as offences requiring the exercise of dis- 
cipline. Such as mutual misunderstand- 
ings, disagreements be'tvveen man and wife, 



covetousness, absence from social meetings 
and from the house of God, with others of 
a similar kind too numerous to detail. In 
almost all cases, where churches have been 
for any length of time established, acts of 
delinquency are faithfully reported : it is 
indeed held to be a sacred duty, whatever 
the circumstances or influence of the guilty 
party. A gentleman who communed 
with the church under the pastoral care of 
the Rev. S. Oughton, soon after his arrival 
in Jamaica, thus writes to a friend in Eng- 
land : — " I sat down with about 3000 
members. After the interesting service 
two members were publicly excluded — one 
for myalism, the other for what would 
make many a member of an English 
church look with astonishment — it was for 
being at the races; and this 1 am told is a 
constant and regular rule throughout the 
island." In cases, however, where mem- 
bers of churches have failed in their duty 
in this respect, it has, in almost every in- 
stance, been performed by those who are 
not professors. In Jamaica, as in England, 
worldly men are keen judges of what 
Christians ought to be; and so common is 
the practice on the part of the former to 
magnify inconsistencies into crimes, and 
to report them to the churches, in order to 
bring the accused under discipline, that this 
circumstance alone furnishes a strong pre- 
sumptive evidence that if our members 
were not sincere in their profession they 
would not subject themselves to such con- 
stant and annoying liabilities. By almost 
all persons, from the highest to the lowest, 
church discipline is made a bugbear for 
selfish purposes. The author has frequent- 
ly heard the observation, as he walked 
along the street, " If you do not mind how 
you behave, I will get you read out of your 
church." While, on the other hand, it is 
equally common, when a member has been 
really convicted of sin, for an employer, 
from the same interested motives, to solicit 
personally or by letter that discipline might 
be relaxed in favour of the offender. With 
reference to this duty, in regard to mem- 
bers themselves, fathers are frequently 
known to bear testimony against their 
children; husbands against their wives, 
and the contrary ; masters against their 
servants, and servants against their mas- 
ters ; members of classes against their 
leaders, and leaders against the members 
of classes. Instances indeed are common 



ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 



125 



in which parents, from a regard to the 
glory of God and honour of the churches 
to which they belong, have done violence 
to their parental affections by refusing ali 
intercourse with their children while under 
the censure of the church, or at least until 
discipline has had its effect in producing 
repentance and reformation. A few years 
since a respectable person of colour was 
excluded from one of the churches, as the 
united act of 2000 members, for allowing 
his daughter, a slave who was living in 
fornication with her master, an occasional 
residence beneath his roof. Attendance at 
dances, or merry»makings of any descrip- 
tion, as well as at horse-races, are all sins 
which are visited with excision in all the 
Jamaica churches with which the author is 
acquainted. Suspensions seldom occur 
under any circumstances. All offences that 
properly come under the cognizance of 
the churches are dealt with impartially and 
promptly, although, perhaps, with too 
much severity to be in exact accordance 
with scriptural authority. The statements 
here made with regard to the fidelity of 
the members of the churches in reporting 
sin, by whomsoever committed, is thus 
corroborated by a missionary, Mr. Clarke, 
now of Western Africa, who had the charge 
of a church belonging to one of his bre- 
thren, in the absence of the latter from the 
island. " The deacons and leaders behave 
well, and show much faithfulness in reprov- 
ing sin. Your dear people in general show 
that they love the Saviour, and bid fair for 
being your 'joy and crown of rejoicing in 
the day of the Lord Jesus.' One of the 
deacons has had heavy charges brought 
against him by a man who was excluded 
the church for drunkenness, but, after a 
patient investigation of the whole matter, 
it was found that rage and malice had 
caused the wicked man to invent falsehoods 
against him, in order to have him also put 
out of the church. The accused showed 
a good spirit throughout the whole." 

Many of the people manifest as high a 
sense of Christian consistency as the most 
enlightened members of Christian churches 
in Britain. Some time since a missionary, 
as he had been accustomed, went to preach 
at a house that had been kindly lent to him 
by its tenant for the purpose, and finding 
no congregation to meet him, went round 
the village, and remonstrated with the peo- 
ple on what he supposed to be their im- 



proper conduct, when he found that they 
had absented themselves because the mas- 
ter had been ill-using his wife. Preaching 
at the house was discontinued as a conse- 
quence, although no other was to be ob- 
tained in the neighbourhood. 

An Evangelical clergyman, during the 
operation of the apprenticeship system, 
was appointed to officiate in the dwelling- 
house of an estate which had been conse- 
crated by the Bishop as a temporary place 
of worship. The population around being 
almost wholly connected with the Baptist 
church and congregation at Spanish Town, 
the clergyman obtained the concurrence of 
their pastor to their attending on his minis- 
try, in the absence of service performed 
by their own minister. The people, how- 
ever, did not attend the preaching of the 
clergyman. Thinking their conduct the 
result of prejudice, he remonstrated with 
them, and used every effort in his power 
to remove it. All his attempts were una- 
vailing, and being now satisfied, from his 
knowledge of the negro character, that 
they were influenced by other causes, he 
was resolved if possible, to ascertain them. 
Accordingly, on inquiring of one of the 
most influential among them, the individual, 
a black man, replied, " No, minister, we 
can't go to your church — God no dere !" 
"God is not there! what do you mean?" 
" God no come which side sin is. Busha 
livin wid woman in a house where minis- 
ter preach widout dem married, and God 
can't come bless de word where sich wick- 
edness carry on." " O, indeed ! is it so? 
and is that the reason why you don't at- 
tend ? Well, I will soon endeavour to 
remedy that." The clergyman represent- 
ed the case to the Bishop, and another 
house in the neighbourhood was secured 
and occupied, not liable to the same objec- 
tion. This fact, in substance, was men- 
tioned to the author by the clergyman him- 
self, as a gratifying evidence of the exis- 
tence of Christian principle and feeling 
among the people in the district, and as 
calculated to encourage him in the prose- 
cution of his work. 

The manner in which the cases of alleged 
delinquency are investigated is in general 
eminently just and scriptural. Church 
meetings in most cases being held by the 
large churches at least once a week, it may 
be supposed that the rule laid down by our 
Lord for the treatment of offences is gene- 



126 



JAMAICA : 



rally and extensively understood. Being 
so frequently appealed to, almost every in- 
stance of its violation forms a matter of 
complaint to the minister. "Minister," it 
is often said, " I know me done wrong, 
and me very sorry for it, but me come to 
ax minister if it right for me broder to tell 
me fault to another pusson, and to the 
church, before him come tell it to me? 
Him go against de scripture, and minister 
must bring him up to the church too." 
Their conduct towards backsliders, also, is 
in general in strict accordance with the 
word of God. On this account very hw 
who are excluded absent themselves from 
the means of grace, or continue long with- 
out the pale of the church. Probably not 
more than the proportion of one-third of 
those excluded die in a state of apostacy. 

Professing Christians, especially those 
attached to missionary churches, are called, 
by way of distinction and peculiarity, 
"praying people,'''' and to this designation 
they are eminently entitled. As previously 
stated, prayer-meetings are almost in- 
variably better attended than week-evening 
lecturers. On special seasons for prayer, 
such as times of peculiar trial and general 
sickness, the places of worship are thronged. 
On his first arrival in the island the author 
was for several months prohibited from 
preaching by the public authorities; he 
however made repeated applications to 
Courts of Quarter Sessions to be allowed 
this right. On such occasions the place 
of worship at the station he occupied was 
crowded from the earliest dawn of day 
until the result transpired. During the 
interval, prayers, literally mingled with 
"strong crying and tears," were offered 
up almost without intermission, and with a 
fervency which he had never before wit- 
nessed. During the disturbances in 1832 
daily prayer-meetings were held in many 
of the places of public worship in those dis- 
tricts to which the outbreak had not ex- 
tended. They were generally crowded to 
excess. During the space of a fortnight a 
prayer-meeting was held every day in the 
chapel at Spanish Town, at twelve o'clock, 
and this notwithstanding the contumely, 
the scorn, and punishment to which the 
people were subjected ; and on one occa- 
sion while engaged in earnest supplication 
that the unhappy man who had been in- 
duced to perjure himself against the mis- 
sionaries, and on whose evidence their lives 



depended, might be brought to repentance, 
a messenger arrived, announcing that their 
prayers were fully answered, thus literally 
fulfilling the promise, " It shall come to 
pass that before they call I will answer, 
and while they are yet speaking I will 
hear."* 

In towns and in districts where there is 
a concentrated population, a minister can 
at almost any time, and at a comparatively 
short notice, insure an attendance at a 
special prayer-meeting amounting to two- 
thirds of his congregation. " The scarlet 
fever was raging dreadfully in Kingston 
when I was there," says Dr. Newbegin. 
"Entire families were sometimes swept 
away. It was so bad, indeed, that not a 
day passed without a funeral — often two 
during twenty-four hours in connexion 
with the church at East Queen Street, 
under the pastoral care of the Rev. Samuel 
Oughton. A public notice was given on 
the Sunday that a prayer-meeting would 
be held for theespecial purpose of supplicat- 
ing Almighty God on behalf of the suffer- 
ing people. The time for meeting was 
half-past four o'clock, a. m., which was 
long before daylight. As many as 1500 
people assembled. There was very great 
devotion, and many strove earnestly with 
the Spirit." Independently of the meetings 
for united family devotion on the estates, 
in numerous cases each separate house has 
its family altar. Nor is this practice con- 
fined to the country — it is almost univer- 
sally current in the towns, where social 
prayer-meetings are so numerous and com- 
mon ; thus, in traversing the streets after 
dark, the voice of prayer and praise is 
heard in every direction. These habits are 
pursued abroad as well as at home. 
Wherever they went, and wherever famili- 
arly known, the purity, the fervour, the 
resolution, and the constancy of their de- 
votion, were universally apparent. On a 
certain occasion the author, when at one 
of his country stations, hearing that some 
tradesmen who were then slaves were 



* Isaiah xv. 24. 

On the 11th of February, 1833, Samuel Stennett, on 
whose affidavits Messrs. Burchell and Gardner have 
been committed, sent for his uncle, Mr. George Scott, 
a respectable person at Montego Bay, and declared to 
him that he had sworn falsely against the missio- 
naries, and that he had been bribed to do so. See 
Dr. Cox's admirable ' History of the Baptist Mission,' 
where the whole of these tragical occurrences are re- 
lated. 



ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 



127 



come to work on a plantation in the neigh- 
bourhood, employed them on the mission 
premises during their own time, on which 
account he provided them with sleeping 
accommodations. On rising before day- 
light on the first morning after they had 
lodged on the premises, he overheard one 
of them in fervent prayer, and on inquiry 
found that all of them (half a dozen in num- 
ber) belonged to the church under the pas- 
toral care of a missionary brother, the Rev. 
J. Merrick, now of Western Africa, whose 
station was about ten miles distant. These 
brethren were entire strangers to the writer 
until this discovery was made ; and this he 
found was their habitual practice wherever 
they took up their abode for the night. In 
some cases it was customary for Christian 
negroes employed in field labour to hold a 
prayer- meeting during their hour of cessa- 
tion for refreshment, in the middle of the 
day, selecting some secluded spot for the 
exercise. It is customary for the Chris- 
tian negroes, both in town and country, 
whenever practicable, emulating the con- 
duct of David, Daniel, and others of the 
Old Testament saints, to engage in private 
exercises of devotion three times a day. 
The moment they awake in the morning, 
which is often long before the dawn, they 
are on their knees : this is repeated at 
noon, and again on retiring to rest. Many 
are in the habit of praying thus whenever 
they awake in the night, and the writer 
has known some who, from constant habit, 
awoke almost invariably at a certain time, 
and poured forth their prayers in the still- 
ness and solitude of the midnight hour. 
To such a degree is this duty in general 
recognised, that in towns, on the occurrence 
of a hurricane, or the shock of an earth- 
quake, the voice of prayer is heard in 
almost every house, and frequently from 
the middle of the streets. . Under these 
circumstances it will be readily conceived 
that social prayer-meetings are numerous 
and frequent. At these meetings among 
themselves females commonly engage as 
well as males, and their prayers are often- 
times distinguished by astonishing fervour 
and natural eloquence. In connexion with 
the Spanish Town district there are, on a 
moderate calculation, 280 every week, 
three or four being held during that period 
by each class respectively, under the su- 
perintendence of subordinate nativeagency. 
This estimate will probably apply to the 



greater part of the larger churches and 
congregations on the island, as also to the 
majority of those of smaller dimensions, in 
a corresponding degree. On the supposi- 
tion that these meetings averaged 100 per 
week, at 100 of the principal stations, there 
would be 10,000 social prayer-meetings 
during every week of the year. 

The following is a prayer that was 
offered up some time since by a deacon of 
the church at Spanish Town, at a mission- 
ary prayer-meeting, and is inserted to 
convey an idea of the fervour and pious 
sentiment which usually pervade the sup- 
plications of the people. It was transcribed 
from memory as soon as the meeting was 
concluded, and the author can pledge him- 
self to its accuracy, both as to sentiment 
and language. 

" O, dow great and blessed God, we 
tank and bless dy holy name dat dow give 
we another opportunity of meeting togeder 
in de place where prayer is wont to be 
made. We acknowledge wid shame and 
confusion of face we great unwordiness to 
approach dy sacred footstool, and much 
less to handle dy sacred name between we 
polluted lip. We have not done one ting 
right nor fitten in dy sight ever since we 
born up to dis present hour. We have sin 
gainst de all time wid a high hand and a 
tretched out arm, and if dow been strick in 
mark our offence, O gracious God, we bin 
cut down long before dis like de wortless 
cumberer of de ground. When we tink of 
dy great love to we poor dying sinner, dat 
dow sent dy beloved son to pill him pre- 
cious blood upon de cross, an buffeted, an 
spit upon, an mock by cruel man, what 
cause heb we, O blessed Massa, to call 
upon we heart, an all de power of we soul, 
to bless and praise dy holy name ! Dow 
do great tings indeed for we, an yet we 
heart so hard, we will so stubborn and re- 
bellious, we conscience so hardened, we 
understanding so dark, dat instead of lov- 
ing de as we ought, we do notin but sin an 
grieve dy Holy Spirit. Oh ! left we not to 
weself, for if dow do we tumble pon de dark 
mountain, an we feet catch in de trap de 
enemy of soul eber laying to draw we into. 
O do dow broke we stubborn heart, for it 
is desperate wicked bove all tings, it is full 
of ebery cage of unclean bird. O do dow 
root dem out same as Massa Jesus did cast 
out de debils out of de man wandering 
| mong de tombs ; an may we sit down like 



123 



JAMAICA: 



him at de feet of Jesus, clothed and in we 
right mind. 

" O Lord, me heart is full, but me is 
poor ting, no able to find word to tell de 
my want an desire. Me know not how to 
pray, nor what to pray for, but me heart is 
open to de like a well widout a cover, and 
me come dis night, hungring and thirsting, 
to eat de bread of life, an bring me empty 
pitcher, like de woman of Samaria, to draw 
water out of de well of salvation. O send 
we not empty away. Bless we, even we 
also, O our Fader, for dow has promts if 
poo sinner call pon de, dow will hear dem, 
for dy ear dont heavy dat it cannot hear, 
neider dy arm shorten dat dow cannot save. 
Remember Mary Magdalene and de tief pon 
de cross; dow didst wash dem wid dy 
precious blood, an dow is able lo save to 
de uttermost all dat come unto de by him. 
O Lord, save or we perish. Blot out all 
we sin like a tick cloud from dy book of 
remembrance, an grant dat we may love 
de more, and sarve de belter, ebery hour of 
we life. May we hate sin, an fly from it 
as from de ting of de sarpent and de cor- 
pion, and continually receive fresh supply 
of grace from de till we keep wax tronger 
and tronger, and appear perfect before de 
in Zion. O do dow bless we dear minister, 
who call pon me unwordy servant for call 
pon him God my God. O do dow bless 
de message of salvation'dat has been deliver 
on de past Sabbath. Do dow pare him life, 
an able him to lift up him voice like a 
mighty trumpet, dat sinner may see dem 
danger, an now begin to fly to de. O Lord 
water de seed sow from Sabbath to Sab- 
bath, dat him no labour in vain, nor pend 
him strength for nought, but dat he may 
hab many seal for him ministry, and many 
soul for him hire. Many come here, O 
gracious Master, to pend an idle hour, or 
to mock pon dy precious word. O do 
dow bring down dem high look, and soften 
dem hard heart, dat dey may trow down 
dem rebellious weapon, and fight against de 
no mo, for dow say, whoeber fight against 
de and prosper? O Lord, sarch. dem 
heart as dow did Jerusalem wid a lighted 
candle, an enable dem dat dem may see 
dem state as dow see if, an as dem self 
will see it, if dow cut dem off" widout an 
intrus in dy precious blood. Turn dem 
from dem evil way, as dow did de city of 
Ninevah. Dow only can soften dem hard 
heart. Man cannot do it ; it is dy work, 



dear Jesus — dy work alone to make de 
leper clean. Dow say Paul plant, Apollos 
water, but God give de increase. O, bless- 
ed Master, we plead wid de. Broke dem 
heart as dow did Saul of Tarsus, dat dey 
may not rush down to de pit of destruction, 
where mercy neber come : we ax de for 
mercy's sake. Many dem lib like dem got 
no soul to save, no soul to lost. Top dem 
in dem mad career, and turn dem like de 
river of water is turned, dat day may no 
more blasflame dy name, nor broke dy 
Sabbath, nor prosecute dy little one any 
more. O Lord, we eye is up unto de ; 
have mercy pon dem befo dy mercy clean 
gone for eber. Blessed God, do dow look 
pon dy man-servant who train up de chil- 
dren in de cool ; strengthen him for him 
difficult work; gib him patience dat him 
may be able lo bear wid all dem preverse 
temper; an able him dat he may train up 
dem youthful mind to love an sarve dee, 
dat when we head lay low in de grave dey 
may rise up, fill we places mo better dan 
we, an become a generation to call de 
blessed. 

" Dow hast bid we pray for de whole 
world, from de king pon his throne to de 
meanest pleasant pon de dunghill, derefo 
do dow hear we poo broken supplication 
for all we poo broder and sister who is 
sick; for de poo prisoner shut up in de 
dungeon; for all de poo widow and orphan; 
for all dat travel by sea or by land; an fo 
all de poo beggar, like Lazarus, laying 
down at de rich man's gate, full of sore. 
O Lord comfort dem ; bind up dem wound, 
like de good Samaritan did to de poo man 
fell mong de tieves, when de priest an Le- 
vite passed by, an may dem affliction drive 
dem back to be like de prodigal son return 
horn to him fader house. 

" Heb mercy, O Lord, pon de four cor- 
ners of de world, where dem washing up 
tocks and tones, an de workmanship of 
dem own hand. Neber hear of Massa 
Jesus' blood to wash away dem guilty 
stain. O Lord, make de cales fall off dem 
dark eye like dow did Saul of Tarsus, 
when him going raven to Damascus to 
prosecute dy people. Send blessed Euro- 
pean to teach dem how dem may excape 
dy wrath, which one day will be pour out 
pon de world. May dey cast away dem 
idof, and sa what we heb any mo to do 
wid idol, for dey cannot save we soul ; 
notin but dy blood, dear Jesus, dy blood 



ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 



129 



alone. Has dow not said, dat like as de 
sun go tro de earth, so de light of dy Gos- 
pel shall shine tro de whole world? Has 
dow not said dat Jesus shall see of de tra- 
bel of him soul, and shall be satisfy? Dat 
like as de rain come and de snow from 
Heaben and cannot be gader up again by 
man, so dow would shower down dy bless- 
ing pon de whole world? Has dow not 
said in dy precious word, dat all nation, 
an king, and queen, shall bow down to dy 
authority? O do dow fill up dy gracious 
promise, and tur up all we heart more dat 
we may wrestle wid de like Jacob, dat dis 
time may soon come when dy son an 
daughter shall come from de East and de 
West, from de Nort and from de Sout, and 
sit down wid Abraham, Isaac, an Jacob, 
in de kingdom of God. O, we long for see 
dat blessed day : hasten it, blessed Jesus. 
Let not dy chariot-wheel tarry no longer. 
We ax it for Jesus' sake, to whom, wid de 
and de Holy Spirit, we excribe neber-ceas- 
ing praises. Amen." 

Their prayers are frequently full of 
point and deeply affecting — "The sublime 
character and the sanctifying energy of 
the gospel flashing like brilliant beams of 
sunshine amidst parting clouds, through 
the forms of their broken dialect."* " Our 
monthly prayer-meeting," said a mission- 
ary, " is well attended, although we are 
obliged to meet before the sun goes down, 
to avoid the penalty. I am sure that some 
of the prayers offered up by these sons of 
Canaan would deeply affect your hearts, 
could you hear them. One said in his 
prayer last monthly meeting, with great 
fervour, ' Lord, save we poo black sinner ! 
break up all de debil's work him done in 
me heart, and save poo African an me poo 
Guinea neger, from dat place where no 
sun shine, where no tar twinkle.' It is 
some encouragement to hear these poor 
things pray ; and we do hope prayer will 
prevail against sin, and that this desert 
will, in answer thereto, be watered and 
become very fruitful." 



Section III. — If an indisposition to 
make sacrifices for Christ is indicative of 
a low standard of piety, in whomsoever it 
is found, it may fairly be presumed that a 
willingness to part with all for his sake is 

* Dr. Cos. 



an evidence of the reverse; and, if this 
reasoning be admitted, it furnishes another 
most satisfactory evidence of the real piety 
of the Jamaica churches. No Christians 
in modern times have been more severely 
tried. The instances of the sacrifices they 
have made of worldly ease, of personal 
comfort, and of emolument arising from 
disreputable practices, would fill a volume, 
and which will be conceived by any indi- 
vidual acquainted with their history for the 
last twenty years ; indeed, a " holy love to 
Christ and his cause has been exhibited by 
these poor people; a purity and steadfast- 
ness of purpose ; a patient endurance ; a 
pure and enlightened charity — only equal- 
led by the confessors and martyrs of the 
early church, and scarcely less confirma- 
tory of the Christian faith, than the edify- 
ing testimony they bore to the Divine 
power of the truth as it is in Jesus."* Of 
this fact it is only necessary to adduce one 
or two illustrations, which will, at the 
same time, bear upon the general subject 
of their Christian character. 

Riding along one day in the centre of 
the island, and upon the summit of the 
ridge of mountains which intersects the 
country, the author discovered a group of 
negro women and children sitting by the 
road-side, beneath the shade of a tree, en- 
joying their morning's meal. From his 
knowledge of the country, and the remote- 
ness of the estate to which they belonged 
from any place of worship, a favourable 
opportunity was presented of ascertaining, 
with some degree of certainty, the extent 
of religious influence in the interior. He 
accordingly addressed the most intelligent- 
looking woman of the group, little antici- 
pating the nature of her replies. 

M. " Well, my good woman, do you 
pray ?" 

W. " Ah, massa, me trust me do little," 
she answered with a sigh and a very de- 
jected countenance. 

M. " Do you really know anything 
about Jesus Christ?" 

W. " Me sweet massa, ye poo neger 
very sorry him no know precious Massa 
Jesus only little, but me striven on to know 
and lub him more." 

M. " Who is Jesus Christ, and what 
did he come into this world for?" 
• W. " Me tink Jesus Christ is de Son of 

* Macfarlane's ' Jubil ee of the World,' p. 414 



130 



JAMAICA 



God, and him come into de world to die 
for me poo sinner. No so, massa?" 

M. " Where did you first hear about 
Christ ; and how long have you loved 
him?" 

W. " Me yeare about him in de Metta- 
dis chapel not much long ago, and me lub 
him eber since. Ah me sweet massa, we 
all wish fo pray to we sweet Massa Jesus 
long befo, but Massa Buckra prosecute we 
so. Him no like pray none 't all. Him 
put we in a locks, and punish we all time. 
Ah, poor we! But, massa, we till striven 
on ; me can't leave off to lub Massa Jesus 
for please Massa Buckra. Massa Jesus 
come dead fo we poo soul, and we must 
lub him. If we dead we can't turn we 
back pon him." 

Sacrifices were made by them during 
slavery, not only of time, comfort, and 
emolument, but also of property and free- 
dom. The fact that any negroes on es- 
tates possessing a little property were pro- 
fessing Christians, was, in numerous cases, 
a sufficient pretence for the depredations of 
individuals to whose power they were sub- 
jected. Hence their huts were frequently 
entered, and the little money, which by 
their superior habits and industry they had 
acquired, ruthlessly taken away. Many 
suffered in their worldly circumstances in 
other respects. 

"If you had not joined those enthusiasts 
of sectarians," said a gentleman to an aged 
negro woman, " my uncle would have 
made a good provision for you in your old 
age; but now, unless your connexion with 
these people is dissolved, he will stop what 
he has been allowing you." 

" Me quite sorry," said the poor woman, 
" dat massa angry wid him old sarvant so, 
but if massa vex because me take up God 
work, well den me can't help it ; beggen 
massa pardon, God's angry worser dan 
massa's angry, an me soul wants more 
feed dan me body want feed." 

"Yes, but only think," replied the gen- 
tleman, " how much better it would be for 
you to have all things comfortable now 
you are getting old." 

" Massa quite good to care for him poo 
neger body so, but me no wants fo massa 
fo geb me notin more — me quite satisfy. 
Me allers heb someting fo eat an drink, an 
God so good ge me helt an trength, an den 
what me wants again ? If me wants mo, 
old massa heart in God hand, and den him 



open massa heart an make massa ge me 
more ; but since me no wants notin, den 
God keep massa heart shut, so him don't 
want to give me more. Me quite comfort 
too, massa. God promise him no make me 
wants no good ting : and Massa Jesus sa, 
' What profit a man heb if him gain de 
whole world and lose him own soul.' " 

" But why couldn't you have gone to 
church and heard the rector preach; isn't 
he as good a preacher as your parson ? 
Why must you go to these ignorant men, 
who pull down church and state, and are 
bringing ruin upon the country ? The 
minister of the parish church preaches ex- 
cellent sermons, I assure you." 

" Yes, massa," was her reply ; " massa 
minister in de chutch preach very good 
sarmon fe true, but it no use to give horse 
corn and den don't curry him." 

" Give a horse corn and then not curry 
him ; what do you mean?" 

" Please, massa, me mean massa minis- 
ter in a chutch preach berry good sarmon 
in de pulpit, but him neber go bout mong 
de people see how dem lib same as we 
minister do. Him people seems like dem 
love God Sunday, but dem no seems to 
care bout God and dem soul all tro de 
week ; — dat make me tell massa sa it no 
use fe give horse corn and den don't curry 
him." 

The following dialogue, illustrative of 
the same particulars, took place between 
a magistrate and a tradesman (an African) 
before the abolition of slavery, the latter 
being summoned before the magistrate for 
holding a prayer-meeting in his house: — 

Magistrate. " So you have got a church 
in your yard, I understand, Mr. G. ?" 

Tradesman. " Me a chutch, massa — no." 

M. " O yes, you have." 

T. " Please, massa, what massa mean, 
sar?" 

M. "Mean ! Why, that you are in the 
habit of preaching in a church that you 
have lately built in your yard (a class- 
house), and that you are in the habit of 
preaching there ; is it so?" 

T. "Me preach, massa? me poor igno- 
rance man ; me no able fe preach ; me no 
able to speak much less, — me quite be glad 
if me could preach." 

M. " I am quite sure that you preach, 
or do something of the sort there." 

T. " No, massa ; me pray some time in 
me house, dat is all." 



ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 



131 



M. " Well, what do you call that but 
preaching and holding a church in your 
house? — that is what I mean, to be sure." 

T. " Well, den, if dat make me heb a 
chutch in me house, massa self heb a 
chutch in him house too." 

M. "la church! — no, I have no 
church." 

T. " Please, massa, don't massa belong 
to Chutch a England'!" 

M. " Yes, certainly." 

T. " Den, as massa is Christian, and 
blongs to Chutch a England, massa no heb 
mornin and evenin prayers in him family?" 

M. " Yes, yes," hesitatingly. 

T. " Well, den, dat make me sa if me 
heb chutch in me house, massa heb chutch 
in him house." 

M. " But you have people coming to 
you from considerable distances, and I un- 
derstand you preach to them." 

T. " Hi! Massa, what dat? Sometime, 
when me friend and broder Christian come 
down from de country market and call fo 
see me, we discourse pon different tings 
about religion, and den bow down de knee 
togedder — das all. And when massa heb 
friend come in for see him from de country, 
massa no discourse and bow down wid dem 
in de same fashion ?" 

M. " I don't know, sir, how that is ; but 
I know this, that there is an affidavit filed 
against you in the peace-office for preach- 
ing in your house, or somewhere." 

T. " Well, as for dat, me quiet man, 
nebber do nobody no harm ; but dere is 
many a dem in dis country don't like re- 
ligion, and dat's de truth ; and derefore 
dem strive much gainst we." 

M. " But you will injure your character 
and trade by such doings, I assure you ; 
and I would advise you to leave them off." 

T. " Ah ! — well massa, me can't help 
bout losten de trade, me can't left off to 
pray ; and as to what pusson sa bout me 
character me don't trouble bout dat neider. 
Dem good word don't do me much credit, 
and dem bad word is no disgrace." 

Numerous instances have occurred in 
which freedom has been offered to Chris- 
tian slaves connected with missionary 
churches, on condition of their leaving off 
praying; but in no instance, of which the 
author is aware, has there been a compli- 
ance with the terms. An excellent African 
negro woman, with a family of six or 
seven children, who, on account of her fide- 



lity and unwearied attentions to some part 
of the family to which she belonged, was 
promised her freedom, and the manumis- 
sion-papers, both for herself and children, 
were actually prepared. She had just be- 
gun to attend on the preaching of the Gos- 
pel, intelligence of which soon reaching 
the ear of her master, he questioned her 
upon the subject ; she acknowledged that 
she had begun to pray, and that her heart 
led her to take up God's work. The mas- 
ter threatened that unless she at once aban- 
doned all connexion with the missionaries 
he would recall his promise with regard to 
giving her her liberty. She was immov- 
able ; he reasoned ; — reproached her with 
obstinacy and with a want of natural af- 
fection for her children. She wept, but re- 
mained steadfast. He gave her a few days 
to consider his determination. She carried 
her case to God and to her minister. At 
the conclusion of the specified time she was 
again ushered into the presence of her mas- 
ter. The writings were exhibited, and the 
terms again proposed. She had prepared 
herself for the result, and replied with 
tears, and an almost bursting heart, — 
" Massa, we want de free, but me cannot 
deny me Saviour." The master was en- 
raged, and commanded her to take the pa- 
pers and put them into the fire. She did 
so, and superintended the flames until they 
were consumed to ashes.* 

Multitudes of them were exposed to 
grievous persecution. Even on the Sab- 
bath day the poor people on many estates 
and other properties were obliged to steal 
to a place of worship. The expedient they 
often adopted in order to elude detection 
was to dress as on a week day, and to car- 
ry their better clothes in a basket on their 
heads, covered with a few vegetables, as 
though they were going to market. In 
some instances spies were actually sent to 
places of worship for the purpose of iden- 
tifying individuals belonging to certain 
properties. Thus numbers were punished 
for no other crime than that of going to a 
place of worship, and to this penalty all 
were more or less liable. 

The communication of religious truth 
by one Christian negro to another was an 
offence cognizable by the civil magistrate, 



* The wife of the author had the happiness, subse- 
quently, of procuring the freedom of this poor woman 
and her family. 



132 



JAMAICA: 



and, when detected, was severely punished. 
An instance of this, which occurred but a 
few years ago, it may not be unimportant 
to detail for reasons irrespective of the 
fact it is designed especially to illustrate. 
A slave belonging to the Bog estate, in the 
parish of Vere, named George Ancle, was 
brought to the bar, charged with holding 
and attending nightly meetings in defiance 
of the 51st clause of the Island Slave 
Law. Prisoner pleaded Not guilty. 

Mr. Syers, overseer of the Bog, sworn. — 
On Monday, 21st June, a man by the name 
of Duncan, or Wilson, was sent to me by 
the driver, as being a preacher about our 
negro houses; he was decently dressed, 
and had on a black coat. I talked a little, 
and then ordered him off the property. 1 
was then taken to the negro houses by our 
head watchman ; went with him to the 
chapel, saw eleven benches and a pulpit in 
the same, gave orders that all these should 
be taken to the overseer's house. This 
was the Methodist chapel. I was then 
taken to the Baptist chapel. I knew no- 
thing more than what the head driver and 
head watchman told me. 

Head driver, sworn. — I have seen pri- 
soner stand up and pray ; did not see any 
pulpit ; I sometimes go to hear him, and 
plenty others go, — some pray. We meet 
on Sunday afternoons. I sometimes stay 
till all is over. It is not later than eight 
or nine o'clock. Never see or know him 
to get any money. I go to hear prayers 
and to pray to God. Never knew the ne- 
groes to neglect their work or turn out 
later in the mornings in consequence. 

John Chambers, head watchman of the 
Bog, and a Christian (i. e. who was chris- 
tened), sworn. — The prisoner is a preacher, 
he has been in the habit of praying many 
years. Since old Massa's time myself and 
others go and hear him; they meet on 
Sunday afternoons, and Friday nights at 
dark. Can't say the time. The candles 
were lighted. We did not know it was 
any harm to go and hear of our duty to 
God. I have seen the prisoner preaching. 
I can't say what time when we break up. 
Prisoner never had a book. We all sang 
hymns also. There was never any money 
collected. Never saw, or heard of the pri- 
soner getting paid for his preaching, either 
by money, fowls, pigs, or any other things 
else. 

The driver was here called upon to give 



the prisoner a character. — Prisoner is a 
carpenter ; a very good working man ; a 
moral man ; never knew him to get into 
faults, or run away ; always pleased every 
one. 

The prisoner was here asked what he 
had to say in his defence. There being a 
general clamour throughout the court, the 
prisoner was abashed. He said he attended 
church and chapel whenever he could him- 
self, and heard the good word, which he 
thought was no harm to tell to his fellow- 
slaves, and " praying with and for them, 
that God may bless them all." 

The Court then addressed him, saying, 
that the jury had found him guilty of 
preaching ; and as such, and in order to 
deter others from the like, the sentence ot 
the Court was that he should be taken to 
Clarendon workhouse, and there placed to 
six months' hard labour. 

Similar to this is the subjoined letter 
from a slave, addressed to the author in 
1829 :— 

" Sir, — This will inform you of the 
state which I am situated in for this pre- 
sent; but I am forbid, or any other slave, 
not to be seen on the place ;* or I, or who- 
soever is caught there, is to be sent to the 
workhouse to hard labour for three months. 
There is watches over me in the negro 
house, and I am put on spell Wednesday 
and Friday night in the boiling-house. 
Through the mercy of God, which I hope 
of his goodness he will keep me up, so I 
shall be truly thankful to you for some ad- 
vice to give me some ease, fori am desired 
to deny the Saviour's name, and they will 
treat me well on the property, to forsake 
the only one which died for me poor sinner. 
" I am, dear Minister, &c." 

This man was nearly white, and had 
been head carpenter upon the estate for 
many years. His going to the boiling- 
house was therefore of itself a degradation 
of office, which many would scarcely 
know how to endure. 

An excellent man, a member of the 
church at Spanish Town, was flogged, and 
sentenced to hard labour in the convict- 
gang, for no other offence than praying to 
God. 



* A small place of worship which had been built 
through his influence near Jericho, the Baptist Mis- 
sion fetation in the parish of St. Thomas-in the-Vale. 



ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 



133 



Another was about the same time sen- 
tenced to six months' confinement in a 
workhouse, for giving the best instruction 
in his power to his fellow-slaves. 

The Rev. John Clarke, now of Western 
Africa, addressing the author in the year 
1832, immediately after the disturbances 
of that period, says : — 

" The torments, persecutions, and pri- 
vations, now more than ever endured by 
Christian slaves, are not to be thought of 
without harrowing up the soul and causing 
the heart to bleed at every pore. No Co- 
lonial Church Union has been formed in 
St. Thomas-in-the-Vale, and thus' it may 
be viewed as a parish as little excited as 
any in the island ; yet in this parish the 
demon of persecution rages not a little. 
Miss C — has been threatened with the de- 
struction of her house, and the voice of 
prayer and praise, sometimes heard from 
among the trees, is greatly complained of, 
though the noise of the goombay, the 
drum, and the dance is encouraged, and 
was heard by me from several properties, 
not only during the night of Saturday last, 
but until 8 o'clock on Sabbath morning. 
Thus wickedness is encouraged, and piety 
is contemned. One of our members has 
been sent to Rodney Hall Workhouse* for 
a month, simply for being a Baptist, and 
has been caned by her brutal owner — 
wrought as usual through the day, and 
thrown into a dark dungeon each night for 
a month. She told me her usage was 
such that she would have much preferred 
being sent to Rodney Hall. A third was 
seen returning from worship last month b,y 
her overseer, and had the promise of being 
marked ; and on the Monday morning re- 
ceived a severe flogging. I could go 
further, but need not. What I have said 
will give you some idea of the usage of 
our brethren and sisters in Christ who are 
slaves, throughout the island." 

George Gibbs, a man of colour, who 
came in the last century from the southern 
states of North America, laboured with 
great diligence and zeal, in the midst of 
persecution and privation, while all around 
was darkness and spiritual death. He was 
once thrown into Spanish Town jail, and 
confined there four days for preaching the 
gospel of Christ. Frequently he was 



* Notorious as a place of punishment during sla- 
very and apprenticeship. 



taken while on estates at night, and cast 
into a dungeon ; and sometimes had his 
feet made fast in the stocks. Nothing dis- 
couraged, he persevered in travelling from 
place to place, making known Christ and 
his salvation to the perishing multitudes 
around him. In this way he collected to- 
gether many hundreds of people, and form- 
ed those of them who believed into a Chris- 
tian church. Owing to the fearful state 
of Jamaica at that time, he baptized and 
administered the Lord's Supper under the 
shade of night, in unfrequented places, 
where his persecutors were not likely to 
come upon him or his helpless flock. After 
a time a piece of land was privately bought, 
and a sort of chapel was erected upon it. 
This was surrounded by swamps, and 
ground covered with trees and bushes : 
here for a time they worshipped God, con- 
cealed from the view of their enemies, and 
hoped their secluded retreat would not be- 
come known. Soon, however, it was found 
out by two white men — the worshippers 
fled, and the building was speedily levelled 
to the ground. 

For years in succession these poor 
creatures were liable to frequent, arbi- 
trary, and excessive punishment, and in 
numerous instances they were called to 
endure the bitter effects of the same spirit 
that kindled the fires of Smithfield, and 
originated the cruelties of the Inquisition. 

Jamaica has furnished as noble a band 
of martyrs to the truth as any part of the 
world of similar extent and within the 
same period of time, since the 16th cen- 
tury. Fitzherbert Batty, Esq., who was 
not remarkable for his liberality, observed 
in the House of Assembly but a few years 
ago, " If the white inhabitants had not 
exemplified the spirit of Bonner in tor- 
turing and burning the missionaries and 
their flocks, it was not for want of will." 
Pretexts, however, were occasionally af- 
forded for the hostile and malignant spirit 
that was latent in their bosoms towards the 
less privileged servants of the Most High, 
and multitudes of them ascended to hea- 
ven by as certain a flight as the spirits of 
the murdered "Vaudois from the valleys of 
the Alps. Like those 

" Whose bones 

Lie scatter'd on the Alpine mountains' cold ; 

Their moans 

The vales resounded to the hills, and they 
To heaven." 

Reference is especially made to the tra- 



134 



JAMAICA 



gedy of 1832, an ample account of which 
is furnished in Dr. Cox's history, previ- 
ously noticed. Two or three instances of 
this malignant persecuting spirit will here 
suffice : — 

A magistrate, and a considerable pro- 
prietor and attorney, having frequently ex- 
pressed to his slaves his detestation of 
praying, and threatened with severe pu- 
nishment any of them whom he might 
find thus engaged, had one day an intima- 
tion, while boasting of his success in ex- 
cluding religion from the properties he 
managed, that several of the negroes on 
the estate where he then resided, had 
caught the infection, and that they were in 
the habit of holding evening meetings. 
He hastened to the negro village to ascer- 
tain the truth or falsehood of the report, 
and, to his mortification, actually caught 
several of them in a house upon their 
knees in prayer. He immediately identi- 
fied them, and after venting his rage re- 
turned to his house. Mark the sequel. 
This fiend in human form, raving with 
fury, declared that they should have 
enough of being on their knees, and made 
them, by way of punishment, work on 
their knees in the field, and in the perfor- 
mance of household duties, for several 
days ; at the same time ordered the house 
in which they assembled to be demolished ! 
An aged negro, who was punished with 
great severity, on being asked after each 
successive infliction if he would promise to 
leave ofFpraying and teaching, as often re- 
peated, " Massa may flog me flesh, but 
him can't flog me soul ; me must pray, 
massa, and me will pray, massa." He 
maintained his determination, although al- 
most exhausted with suffering. It is cur- 
rently reported that one negro was actu- 
ally executed for this " crime" in the pa- 
rish of Manchester some years since, and 
that his body was suspended on a gibbet 
until devoured by birds of prey, as a terror 
to others. Another individual, who is still 
living, was condemned under the same 
circumstances, and but for some providen- 
tial occurrence would have suffered the 
same penalty. 

An overseer, who was also a magistrate, 
had a negro flogged repeatedly and cruelly 
several times in succession for praying, 
first giving him thirty-nine lashes; then to 
obviate the cognizance of the law, which 
restricted the number of lashes to thirty. 



nine at one time, released him, and tied 
him up again, fee. At length the heart of 
the driver relented at the sufferings of his 
fellow-slave, and he ventured humbly to 
expostulate with the overseer, saying, 
" Massa, me no able to flog your neger 
more ; him have enough already, and him 
no able to bear more." The overseer in- 
sisted upon obedience, and the driver was 
obliged to submit. The victim was for the 
last time laid down upon a ladder, and 
whipped unmercifully. On his being taken 
up he staggered a few paces and fell. He 
was raised again, but he again fell, being 
utterly unable to stand. He was then con- 
veyed to the hospital, and the medical man 
who attended the estate arriving just at the 
time, was called to see him, as he had 
fainted. He told the overseer that the 
negro was dying. The overseer declared 
he was not, and almost insisted on his be- 
ing bled. "What is the use of it'?" said 
the doctor ; " Don't you see the poor man 
is almost gone?" With these words upon 
his lips, taking hold of the victim by the 
wrist, he found indeed that his pulse had 
ceased to beat. An inquest was held on 
the body the next day, and the verdict re- 
turned was, "Died from infirmity." 

" He dropped his quivering flesh upon the sod, 
And flew to meet his Saviour and his God." 

***** 

" He died beneath the lash — his mortal frame 
Could bear no more, and death in mercy came ; 
Patient and calm his spirit passed away, 
And now his body sleeps beneath the clay; 
His toils are over, and his weary breast 
Has found what man in life denied him — rest. 
Poor, slumbering dust! is there that passes by 
And yields thy death the tribute of a sigh? 
"Che tyrant tramples on thy lowly grave — 
'Tis but the ashes of a murdered slave .'" 

And what has been the conduct and 
spirit which these poor creatures have ex- 
emplified under this complication of trials 
and sufferings? Probably no instance has 
been known in which they have displayed 
a spirit of revenge ; but on the contrary, 
one of pity, forbearance, patience, and for- 
giveness. Never did the author hear from 
the lips of any, even when smarting under 
the influence of punishment recently inflict- 
ed, a single Word that implied anything like 
retaliation ; but on the contrary, frequent- 
ly has he seen them lift their eyes to 
heaven, and pray for mercy on their per- 
secutors. Their language has often been, 
" Father, forgive them, for they know not 
what they do," adding, " Buckra left him 
God in England, and devil in Jamaica stir 



ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 



135 



him up to do all dis wickedness. Poor 
ting ! him eye blind, and him heart hard ; 
but if God open him eye, and touch him 
heart, him sorry, and no prosecute any 
more." A book-keeper on a certain occa- 
sion rushed into one of the little village 
chapels where a number of poor people 
belonging to the estate on which it was lo- 
cated had assembled for prayer, and ap- 
proaching a table that was at one end of 
the room, against which a venerable old man 
was standing, engaged in conducting the de- 
votions, immediately commenced a mock 
imitation of preaching. After conducting 
himself in a disgraceful manner for some 
time, and finding he could not provoke the 
resentment of these poor but pious people, 
he thus addressed himself to an African 
woman who was less able to restrain her 
feelings than her associates, the rest for 
some time observing the most perfect si- 
lenCe. 

Book-keeper. Well ! don't you think I 
have preached a good sermon in your 
church for the first time? 

Answer. Dis don't no chutch, sar. If 
massa want preach, hadn't massa better go 
preach in him own chutch a England ? 
Don't massa sa him blong to Chutch a 
England? 

B. Belong to the Church of England ! 
yes, to be sure I do. I am none of your 
hypocrites and methodists. 

A. Ah ! well den, since massa blong to 
Chutch a England, if him want make fun 
him better make fun in him own chutch 
den. 

B. 1 don't want any of your lectures. 
Let me see, I must now pray. How do 
you go to work to pray : tell me, will you ? 

A. Don't massa a buckra gentleman ? 
Why den you ax me how fo pray? me 
always- tink sa buckra gentleman know 
better den neger know — how den massa 
come ax neger fo Iarn him when massa 
ought to much mo able fo teach poor neger 
sarvant how fo pray ? 

B. Nonsense. Tell me, I say, how you 
pray. 

A. Well ! since massa don't know, we 
will tell him. When we pray we say, 
" Our Fader which art in Heaven," some- 
times — sometimes we beg God to give we 
new heart and right spirit, dat we may love 
him and all we fellow-creature more. 
Pray ! — dat mean to tell God all what in 
we heart, and beg him to forgive all we sin 



tro Jesus Christ. An one ting we pray 
for now, massa — pray God to give we 
patience dat we no get vex wid massa fo 
all what him do in broking up we meetin, 
and making all de carousement about de 
place. 

B. I tell you I don't want any of your 
preaching — I want you to show me how 
you go to work to pray (kneeling down 
and lifting up his hands and eyes in 
mockery) — come, tell me what 1 am to 
say. 

[ The old man presiding at the meeting. 
O massa ! we quite sorry to see how massa 
go on mock God so ; and since massa don't 
know to pray for himself, we will try to 
pray for him, dat God may make him trow 
down him rebellious weapon, and have 
mercy upon him soul at de last day. Poor 
buckra child ! sin harden you heart an 
bline you eye too much.] 

The whole company here joined in an 
ejaculatory prayer on his behalf. 

B. Ah ! I don't want your prayers ; 
black people's, prayers are good for no- 
thing — how can they pray truly when they 
tell lies and thieve ? 

A. No, massa, dem can't pray truly till 
God's spirit teach dem, den dem pray truly, 
an arter dat dem don't tief again. Befo 
dem pray, den dem tell lie and tief. Befo 
dem no knoio good, den dem no do good ; 
when dem know good, den dem cant do bad 
again. 

B. Yes, but black people have no souls, 
and therefore they have no business to 
pray. 

A. All black pusson is sinner, as same 
as white pusson, and Massa Jesus sa him 
hear when all sinner pray, so dat mean 
black sinner as well as white sinner. Him 
say him don't want no fine word, no long 
argument ; but if we don't able to say more 
dan " God be merciful to we poor sinner," 
like de publican, we shall go down to we 
house justify. 

This impious man at length withdrew, 
amidst expressions of pity and prayer by 
the poor people, who made his case, and 
that of similar ones, an especial subject of 
their future supplications. 

The spirit which the poor Christian ne- 
groes have manifested under these persecu- 
tions has been indeed most exemplary. 
" Whan can Jesus Christ do for you now ?" 
said an inhuman slave-master, when in the 
act of applying the lacerating whip to an 



136 



JAMAICA 



already half-murdered slave. "Him teach 
me to forgive you, massa," was the reply ; 
and this has been the sentiment of hundreds 
in Jamaica under similar treatment. The 
following anecdote seems so accurately to 
describe the conduct of the generality of 
negro Christians towards their enemies, 
that it forms an appropriate conclusion to 
this particular. 

A slave in one of the islands of the West 
Indies, originally from Africa, having been 
brought under the influence of religious in- 
struction, became singularly valuable to 
his owner, on account of his integrity and 
general good conduct — so much so that his 
master raised him to a situation of some 
importance in the management of his estate. 
This owner, on one occasion wishing to 
purchase twenty additional slaves, employ- 
him to make the selection, giving him in- 
structions to choose those who were strong 
and likely to make good workmen. The 
man went to the slave-market, and com- 
menced his search. He had not long sur- 
veyed the multitudes offered^for sale before 
he fixed his eye intently upon an old and 
decrepid slave, and told his master that 
he must be one. The master seemed great- 
ly surprised, and remonstrated against it; 
the poor fellow begged that he might be in- 
dulged, when the dealer remarked that if 
they were about to buy twenty he would 
give them the old man into the bargain. 
The purchase was accordingly made, and 
the slaves were conducted to the plantation 
of their new master, but upon none did the 
selector bestow half the attention he did 
upon the poor old decrepid African. He 
took him to his own habitation, and laid 
him upon his own bed ; he fed him at his 
own table, and gave him drink out of his 
own cup ; when he was cold he carried him 
into the sunshine, and when he was hot he 
placed him under the shade of the cocoa- 
nut trees. Astonished at the attention this 
confidential slave bestowed upon a fellow- 
slave, his master interrogated him on the 
subject. He said, " You could not take so 
intense an interest in the old man but for 
some special reason — he is a relation of 
yours, perhaps your father'/" "No, massa," 
answered the poor fellow, " he no my 
fader." "He is then an elder brother?" 
" No, massa, he be no my broder." " Then 
he is an uncle, or some other relation." 
" No, massa, he be no of my kinred at all, 
nor even my friend." "Then," asked the 



master, " on what account does he excite 
your interest 1" " He my enemy, massa," 
replied the slave ; " he sold me to the slave- 
dealer, and my Bible tell me, when my 
enemy hunger feed him, and when he 
thirst give him drink, for in so doing I shall 
heap coals of fire on his head." 



Section IV. — The members of the Ja- 
maica churches are distinguished in gene- 
ral by great love to one another, to the 
ordinances of God's house, and to their 
ministers. " By this shall all men know 
that ye are my disciples," says the Saviour, 
" if ye have love one for another." This 
distinguishing badge of true discipleship is 
perhaps exemplified by no body of Chris- 
tians at the present day in a greater de- 
gree than by the churches in Jamaica. 
They emphatically regard each other as 
belonging to the family of Christ, and as 
being members one of another. This re- 
lationship is universally recognised. The 
members, though numerous, know each 
other, and are generally on terms of the 
most friendly intercourse, whatever be the 
difference of their worldly circumstances. 
They are greatly distinguished for their 
hospitality one towards another. Hun- 
dreds are in the habit of coming from the 
country to the towns to attend the services 
on the Sabbath ; and for this purpose many 
arrive on the previous evening, and all find 
gratuitous accommodation at the houses of 
their Christian brethren. The same dis- 
position is manifested throughout the coun- 
try ; so that every individual, in travelling 
from one part of the island to the other, if 
able to prove his connexion with a Chris- 
tian church, is sure to meet with kindness, 
accommodation, and refreshment. When 
in circumstances of worldly difficulty they 
usually assist each other. Numerous and 
frequent instances have occurred in which 
churches have contributed to purchase the 
freedom of a brother or sister. While they 
seldom fail to report actual cases of delin- 
quency, it is not often that they judge each 
other by a censorious and uncharitable 
temper. They are slow to speak of each 
other's failings and imperfections, and, like 
their compassionate Lord, are much more 
disposed to pity and to pray for a fallen 
brother than to censure him. To befriend 
and cherish the destitute, the sick, and the 
aged, is a duly generally regarded ; hence, 



ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 



137 



whenever any one is taken ill, arrange- 
ments are immediately made, by the leader 
of the class to which he belongs, to secure 
him a supply of gratuitous attendants, and 
for the purpose of ascertaining and supply- 
ing his wants. None are driven to the 
necessity of seeking relief from the parish. 
The author indeed is not aware that a sin- 
gle individual in the island connected with 
dissenting churches is dependent upon the 
parish for support. In cases of death, 
where no effects are left to cover the ex- 
penses of the funeral, such expenses are 
defrayed by private contributions or from 
a fund for the relief of the poor, which is 
supplied by donations at the sacrament. 

Their attachment to each other, as bre- 
thren and sisters of the family of Christ, is 
associated with great respect and deference, 
especially when met together for the dis- 
posal of church business. Whatever the 
respectability of some of the candidates for 
church fellowship, or the members against 
whom charges are preferred, they pass 
through the same ordeal as the meanest 
individual ; and though questioned by their 
brethren, many of whom were slaves, rarely 
do they manifest any signs of contempt or 
airs of superiority. 

Their attendance on the public means of 
grace is not only numerous, but, wherever 
those means are statedly supplied, both re- 
gular and punctual. Habits were con- 
tracted during slavery of attending the 
house of God only on every alternate Sab- 
bath, and it is so at the present time where 
the public means of grace cannot be more 
frequently afforded, or where difficulties 
arise from indisposition or remoteness of 
residence. But referring especially to the 
towns and thickly populated districts in 
which missionaries reside, not only is the 
attendance of the people regular as to the 
day, but also as to time. Some are seated 
in the house of God an hour or more be- 
fore the service commences, and on the 
morning of the Sabbath, almost all are in 
their places before the minister enters the 
pulpit. Like Cornelius to Peter, they seem 
to say, " Now, therefore, we are all here 
present before God, to hear all things that 
are commanded thee of God." The ser- 
vices of God's house are evidently their 
delight — " times of refreshing from the 
presence of the Lord." Pleasure beams 
in every eye and animates every counte- 
nance. Their behaviour is serious, suited 

10 



to the place and the occasion ; whilst 
usually their attention is remarkable, occa- 
sionally expressed by responses and other 
signs of interest and approval. In hun- 
dreds of instances some of these poor crea- 
tures have travelled fifty miles to enjoy the 
advantage of a single Sabbath ; and there 
is scarcely a place of worship in the island 
but numbers who are in the constant habit 
of attending have to travel a distance of 
from three to ten or fifteen miles; and 
whether going or returning, they give an 
impression that they regard the worship of 
God as a high and holy privilege. 

On particular occasions, such as bap- 
tisms, chapel openings, as well as at mis- 
sionary meetings, they are enthusiastic, 
sometimes attending in such numbers as to 
fill the whole premises, and manifesting 
such signs of gratification as demonstrates 
that their love to Christ and to his cause is 
supreme. On such occasions in the low- 
lands some come from almost incredible 
distances. The roads leading to the sta- 
tions where these festivals occur are lite- 
rally thronged ; some are seen in chaises, 
some in carts, some in wagons drawn by 
oxen, some on horseback, with hundreds 
on foot, bearing baskets on their heads 
containing their best apparel; but all press- 
ing on with vivacity and speed. They 
identify both their interest and their hap- 
piness with the cause of God. The per- 
formance of their religious duties is their 
meat and drink. With regard to Zion, it 
may be almost literally said that " they 
take pleasure in her stones, and favour the 
dust thereof." During the disturbances in 
1832, the anxiety manifested for the pre- 
servation of their places of worship, and 
the grief expressed when any were demo- 
lished, was intense. Where danger was 
apprehended, some were guarded by hun- 
dreds of the poor people day and night, for 
two or three successive weeks, they being 
fully determined to perish in their efforts 
to save them, should any attempts be made 
for their destruction. 

The attachment of the people to their 
pastors is proverbial. On their minister 
paying a visit to their village, especially if 
accompanied by his wife and children, the 
expressions of regard towards them on the 
part of the inhabitants are enthusiastic. 
All, from the youngest to the oldest, pour 
forth to welcome them. Every eye spar- 
kles with delight, and every thing that 



138 



JAMAICA : 



kindness of heart can suggest is done for 
them. The boys vie with each other in 
climbing the cocoa-nut trees to refresh 
them with the wholesome beverage which 
the unripe fruit of that tree affords. They 
are regaled with fruit of different kinds, and 
seats are provided for them usually be- 
neath a tree in some particular part of the 
village, the most convenient for the social 
interview. These are often seasons of re- 
freshing to the aged and infirm particu- 
larly ; and their kindness and gratitude are 
often almost overwhelming: on leaving, 
benedictions follow the visiters until they 
are out of hearing. 

" God bless minister and misses, and de 
children ! come call, come see we ; give we 
comfort." 

If unexpectedly discovered among the 
settlements of their own people when tra- 
velling in the interior of the country, the 
tidings are shouted from hill to hill, and 
the whole place presents a scene of joyous 
excitement. If compelled to leave their 
charge for a time from ill health, the 
scenes at parting are oftentimes affecting 
in the extreme. Of this the following oc- 
currence may afford a specimen. It hap- 
pened in the case of a missionary a few 
years ago. Urged to take a voyage to 
some cooler climate without delay, he de- 
cided on going for a few weeks to America, 
and on the following Sabbath announced 
his intention to his belovpd people. 

The limits within which his absence 
was to be confined would, he thought, 
cause it to be regarded merely as a trip to 
the other side of the island ; but in the 
minds of his sable flock, the big water was 
identified only with images of distance and 
danger ; and it was this that made the 
prospect of separation so formidable : if 
he once embarked on that treacherous ele- 
ment they might see the face of their mi- 
nister no more. Hence, when it was inti- 
mated that the period of his departure was 
unalterably fixed, feelings were excited 
which betokened how painful would be the 
struggle on the eve of embarkation. On 
the preceding day the mission premises 
presented a moving spectacle of sadness. 
No one interested in the event could be- 
hold the poor creatures loitering about the 
house, or sitting about the yard, as though 
to take a long and last farewell, without the 
deepest emotion. Impossible as it was 
under such circumstances to complete the 



necessary arrangements, a prayer-meeting 
was proposed, at which the final farewell 
might be given en masse. On the follow- 
ing morning, though but a few were at 
first acquainted with the design, multitudes 
were knocking at the chapel-gate long be- 
fore the break of day, and at five o'clock 
the entire chapel was crowded. The pro- 
foundest silence reigned until the minister 
entered the chapel. It was then broken at 
intervals by sighs and half-stifled sobs; 
whilst all eyes seemed glistening with 
tears. The scene spoke to the heart. It 
was like a funeral. A hymn was given 
out, which was sung in a melting tone, and 
with a quivering voice. One of the bre- 
thren was then called upon to pray. He 
prayed and wept, and wept and prayed 
again : " O dow merciful and gracious 
God !" he uttered at intervals, " to whom 
all hearts is open ; dow knowest dat we 
met togedder dis mornin to pray for dy 
dear minister servant before de, who dow 
in dy providence is about to take from we 
dis day. O do dow protect him on de 
wide big water and from cruel man, for 
dow hold de wind and de wave in de hol- 
low of dy hand. Dow say no ting shall 
do dy prophet harm. Establish him health, 
and bring him back again to we, O gra- 
cious Redeemer ; bring him back to we, 
dy poor sheep, wandering on de dark 
mountains widout a shepherd, dat we may 
praise and glorify dy holy name. But 
may be we may neber see him face in de 
flesh no more again." Here tears com- 
pletely choked his utterance, and sobs be- 
came universally audible. Both minister 
and people were in tears ; the former, 
however, succeeded in reading a few 
verses of the Scriptures and in giving out 
a verse of a hymn. The whole assembly 
now wept aloud. The place emphatically 
became a Bochim, " a place of weeping ;" 
and the school children adding their shrill 
voices to the strain of lamentation, the ser- 
vice was necessarily brought to a close. 
Waving his pocket-handkerchief, there- 
fore, and begging them never to cease to 
pray for his recovery and safe return, the 
pastor, with the most overwhelming feel- 
ings, uttered the word " farewell," and 
retired. Multitudes followed him to the 
sea side, six miles distant, and, amidst 
tears and lamentations, watched the boat 
in which he had embarked to join the ves- 
sel until it disappeared behind an interven- 



ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 



139 



ing promontory. Nor do they forget their 
ministers during their absence from them, 
as is proved by the following extract bf a 
letter lately addressed to a missionary now 
in England ; as also one from the teachers 
of the Sabbath-school : 

"July 8, 1842: — I read your letter to 
the dear people of your charge, and I can 
assure you that it is impossible for tongue 
to express, or heart to conceive, the feeling 
of joy which took possession of the whole 
company. Every eye seemed to sparkle 
with joy, and every heart to throb with 
delight; and had you heard the. fervent 
petitions that ascended up to the God of 
all grace on behalf of yourself, your dear 
partner, and the ship's crew, you could not 
have refrained from tears. I cannot tell 
the number that I have had this week, 
telling me, when I write to minister, to re- 
member them to him. I am sure I need 
not put any thing into this letter but affec- 
tionate remembrances." 

" July 22nd. — They (the people) have 
not forgotten you, and I am sure they ne- 
ver will, so long as memory holds her seat 
in each of their bosoms; and I am almost 
sure that had it not been for the hope they 
entertained of seeing you again, and of 
your spending your last moments with 
them, they would never have given you 
up." 

July 22nd. — From two of the teachers 
of the Sabbath and day-schools, on behalf 
of the whole : — 

" This is now six weeks since your de- 
parture, and we now think it the most fa- 
vourable time to write to you, as we hope 
you are by this time nearly home. You 
are aware that while you were here we 
have always borne that degree of attach- 
ment to, and respect for you, not only as 
a pastor, but a father among us. And by 
this you will perceive that, though you are 
now far away from us, you and yours are 
still present to our imaginations ; for al- 
though we are unacquainted with the va- 
rious tacking and points by which the 
ship goes, yet it appears to us as if we are 
really spectators of her in her progress 
across the Atlantic. We were exceeding- 
ly sorry, that, owing to the lateness of the 
hour at which you went on board at Port 
Royal, being also tired of waiting in the 
boat, we were unable to see the last of 
you ; but now, as we hope you are in 
England, or nearly so, we think it not too 



late to express our good wishes towards 
you, and earnestly hope that the blessing 
and peace of God, may attend you and 
your dear wife, and all who go along with 
you ; and would entreat you never to lose 
sight of your promise to suffer no other 
thought to take possession of your mind 
than that of coming back to labour among 
the people that you have for so many years 
been labouring amongst, and who since 
your departure also have been the subjects 
of sorrow at parting with you, and exhi- 
bited the utmost concern for your safety 
by their earnest supplications to Almighty 
God. They are cherishing the hope that 
you will soon have recovered your wonted 
strength and ability, and not many months 
shall have passed before they shall have 
the privilege of seeing you again in the 
flesh." 

Numbers of similar cases might be 
cited, as well as many facts illustrative of 
the joyous feelings that have been express- 
ed on the return of the messengers of 
peace to their home and to their work — on 
the latter occasion going miles to meet 
them on the road, embracing their hands, 
and sometimes taking them up in their 
arms, and carrying them into the House of 
God, to return to Him their mutual ac- 
knowledgments and gratitude. 

In their estimation there is no character 
or office so high as that of a minister of 
the Gospel, and throughout the different 
sections of the church in general each 
thinks his own minister the best, and loves 
him the most. They esteem their minis- 
ters " very highly in love for their work's 
sake ;" seldom speak disrespectfully of 
them, and are never more offended than 
when they are spoken lightly of by others. 
Having great respect and love for them 
themselves, they endeavour to inspire their 
children with the same sentiments and 
feelings. In cases where violence has 
been threatened or attempted towards 
them the whole surrounding country has 
been in a state of excitement ; and in cases 
of death the scenes exhibited and the emo- 
tions excited are such as to exceed descrip- 
tion. On some such occasions thousands 
have attended at the last sad offices, whose 
tears and lamentations could not fail to ex- 
cite a sympathetic feeling in every bosom. 
A missionary, writing to a friend in Eng- 
land, thus describes one of these deeply- 
affecting scenes. It occurred at the fune- 



140 



JAMAICA : 



ral of the late Rev. F. Gardner, of King- 
ston. 

" At the dawn of the following day 
when I arose I found it difficult to per- 
suade myself but that the actual bereave- 
ment was a dream. I had, however, 
mournful evidences to the contrary in the 
looks and gestures of those whom I met 
upon the road. Still more substantial 
proofs of the reality forced themselves upon 
me in passing along the streets of King- 
ston ; but on entering the mission-premises 
at East Queen Street 1 was not to be mis- 
taken. Oh ! what a heart-rending scene 
did I there behold ! ! The yard was full 
of mourners ; multitudes hung about the 
doors and windows, and the house seemed 
crowded. How was I to encounter the 
sighs, and sobs, and tears of the motley 
mass? But there was no time to hesitate. 
I tried to force myself through the crowd 
without engaging an eye or exchanging a 
word. It was in vain. I was surrounded 
— 1 was unmanned ; whilst the cries of 
' So me dear minister is gone,' uttered in 
anguish, seemed to unstring every fibre of 

my heart and loosen every nerve. 

# * # # 

" At length the hour appointed for the 
interment arrived. I need not describe the 
funeral procession ; suffice it to say that 
the corpse was followed to its last abode 
by a train of mourners which, perhaps, 
either as to number or respectability, had 
never been exceeded on a like occasion in 
Jamaica. The deacons, as well as the 
ordinary members of the church, followed 
each other in regular succession and in 
long perspective. With the exception of 
the convulsive shrieks heard on the first 
removal of the corpse, and the half-stifled 
sobs now and then expressed by the crowd, 
all moved on in solemn silence. The cha- 
pel was crowded, and had been so from an 
early hour. What a scene ensued on en- 
tering ! The corpse was at length forced 
through the crowd to the table-pew, and 
order again restored. The solemn ser- 
vice was commenced by singing two or 
three verses of the hymn beginning 

"'What though the arm of conquering death, 
Does God's own house invade,' 

and closed by an appropriate address from 
Mr. Tinson. The assembly was so dense 
that considerable apprehensions were en- 
tertained throughout the morning for the 



safety of the galleries ; but now not less- 
anxiety was manifested for the preserva- 
tion of that decorum befitting so sacred a 
place, and becoming those who are taught 
to ' sorrow not as those without hope.' 
Every means was used to restrain the tor- 
rent of feeling within proper bounds ; but, 
untrained to artificial restraints as are our 
sable brethren in general, I saw it must 
soon burst forth into a flood. My fears 
were realized. The corpse was borne 
along the aisle to the vault amidst cries, 
and groans, and other external signs of 
sorrow that were enough to tear one's 
heartstrings asunder. In the midst of 
silence, frequently broken by the weeping 
of the people, Mr. Taylor gave out a verse 
or two of a suitable hymn. Mr. Wool- 
dridge prayed, and the corpse was imme- 
diately lowered down to its last sad resting- 
place. Sighs and tears, intermixed with 
convulsive cries, now became general. Of 
my own feelings at this particular moment 
I can attempt no description. I can never 
forget them !" 

Such an astonishing change has taken 
place in the individual character of hun- 
dreds of the members of the churches that 
their pastors could no more question the 
reality of their conversion to God than 
they could question their own interest in 
the merits of the Saviour or their faith in 
the essential truths of Christianity. Like 
the members of the church at Corinth, 
" they were once fornicators, and idola- 
tors, and adulterers, and thieves, and co- 
vetous, and drunkards, and revilers, and 
extortioners ; but they have been washed, 
and sanctified, and justified in the name of 
the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our 
God." 

From the previous state of society in 
Jamaica, almost every individual who has 
been united in church-fellowship has exhi- 
bited a most striking change, both in 
character and conduct, while in many that 
change has been so great as fully to ex- 
emplify the sentiment — 

" Lions and beasts of savage name 
Put on the nature of the lamb." 

As an illustration the author will mention 
two or three instances, out of many, which 
have come under his own observation. A 
middle-aged female was a professed teacher 
of the obscenities practised at the Christ- 
mas carnivals, and other nightly revels. 



ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 



141 



She had a house on the outskirts of the 
town, into which numbers of the young of 
both sexes were decoyed, to the ruin both 
of body and soul. Dancing, revelling, and 
the din of savage music were here heard 
from week to week, and usually from Sa- 
turday evening until Sabbath morning, 
throughout the year, and not unfrequently 
during the whole of that sacred day. 
About sixteen years ago she was induced 
to hear the Gospel. It came home to her 
with power and the demonstration of the 
Spirit. Her haunt of sin was immediately 
abolished, and her guilty honours and 
gains at once abandoned. Not long after- 
ward, accompanied by a Christian friend, 
the writer called to see a female of his 
flock who was in dying circumstances. 
On entering the house he distinctly heard 
the voice of a female in prayer in an ad- 
joining room, and approaching nearer, 
joined in the devotion. Never can he for- 
get the occurrence — never before did he 
hear such a prayer. The rich experi- 
mental piety which it breathed, its appro- 
priateness and fervour, together with the 
responses it drew forth from those who 
were present, seemed to render the chamber 
of sickness, obscure as it was, the very 
gate of heaven. When they rose from 
their knees, his friend exclaimed with asto- 
nishment, "Who can it be? It is some 
black, or coloured, female?" It was soon 
ascertained that it was this very individual 
— "this brand plucked from the fire." Im- 
mediately on her conversion, she began to 
do what she could to counteract the influ- 
ence of her former wicked life, and from 
that time to the present, in addition to a 
most exemplary walk and conversation, 
she has been pursuing the same benevo- 
lent object with a steadfastness of purpose 

and success truly astonishing Another 

was the queen of the sets of dancing-girls 
mentioned in connexion with the descrip- 
tion previously given of the Christmas car- 
nivals, and who kept an establishment of 
a similar kind to that already named. It 
was, perhaps, less disreputable in its char- 
acter, but in some respects even more de- 
moralizing and wicked in its effects. She 
also heard the truth in Christ about the 
same time, and shortly after, like the wo- 
man out of whom were cast seven devils, 
was found " sitting at the feet of Jesus, 
clothed and in her right mind," a circum- 
stance which at the time did not fail to at- 



tract general observation, and had a con- 
siderable influence in diminishing the num- 
ber and destroying the organization of 
these depraved communities. Though less 
calculated for active usefulness than her 
former accomplice in iniquity, she has in 
an equal, or even in a greater degree, ex- 
hibited the milder graces of the Christian 
character — "bowels of mercies, lowli- 
ness, meekness, gentleness," — steadfastly 
"adorning the doctrine of God her Sa- 
viour in all things." — A third, a mulatto 
female, was a person of some little pro- 
perty, and a proprietor of slaves. Of a 
most overbearing and tyrannical disposi- 
tion, her conduct towards the unhappy 
victims of her power was cruel in the ex- 
treme. Her house was situated in the 
country near a public road, and it was 
proverbial that no one could pass her gate, 
scarcely at any hour of the day, without 
hearing the cries and groans of her wretch- 
ed vassals under the infliction of punish- 
ment. Of these none so often felt the 
effects of her passion as an aged neo-ress, 
for praying. A missionary went into the 
parish, in the hope of securing a piece of 
land on which to form a preaching station. 
Disappointed in his expectation, through 
the influence of a white planter and mao-is- 
trate, he was returning home, depressed 
in mind at the apparent hopelessness of 
further attempts to introduce the Gospel 
into that benighted district, when he was 
met on the road by this female, attended 
by several of her neighbours. She heard 
of his failure, and after expressing herself 
in strong language against the leading men 
of the parish for combining to keep religion 
out of it, requested him to follow her. 
They ascended a piece of rising ground 
a little beyond her cottage, and looking 
round, her eye kindling with animation, 
she exclaimed, " They want to keep reli- 
gion out of the parish, but, minister, here 
is an acre of land; take it, I will give it 
you ; build a chapel upon it ; and let them 
meddle with it if they dare."* The offer 
was accepted, and her cheerful consent 
also given to the occupation of her house 
or premises for occasional services without 
delay. These services were accordingly 
commenced ; and for some time, in fine 



*The motive by which this individual was induced 
to offer the ground to the missionary appears to have 
been a spirit of opposition to the white inhabitants. 



142 



JAMAICA : 



weather, were carried on beneath the 
shade of a mango tree that spread its wide 
branches by the side of her cottage.* She 
was denounced and threatened for her con- 
duct by the parish authorities, but with the 
spirit of a true heroine she ridiculed their 
menaces, and challenged any one to come 
upon her premises for the purpose either of 
molesting her or interrupting the worship. 
On one occasion, when the missionary was 
preaching beneath the tree to a considera- 
ble number of the poor slaves, a party of 
white men rode up to her gate, at the sight 
of whom the whole congregation were agi- 
tated, and were about to fly into the woods ; 
she immediately advanced towards the 
party, and shouted to them to come in ; 
but before she reached the gate they had 
galloped away. The converting and sancti- 
fying influence of the Holy Spirit soon took 
possession of her heart ; and after several 
months' probation she was to be baptized, 
with several others, in a river that flowed 
along a part of the boundary of her little 
domain. The ceremony was performed 
at the appointed time, amidst a great con- 
course of spectators. The missionary re- 
gained the cottage before her. Her aged 
slave, whom she had so often punished for 
her steadfastness to Christ, was left at 
home to make some arrangements for the 
future services of the day. Scarcely had 
the missionary seated himself, when the 
tall withered form of the old African disci- 
ple appeared before him as though para- 
lyzed ; her eyes alternately fixed on some 
object out of doors, and her clasped hands 
directed ecstatically towards Heaven; he 
sprang from his seat to ascertain the cause, 
when he discovered among the trees a 
tall noble-looking female figure clothed in 
white, approaching the door. It was her 
mistress. In a moment they were in each 
other's arms,, and the floor was literally 
sprinkled with their tears. "O, my misses," 
said the aged slave, " who ever link me live 
to see dis day ? Blessed Jesus make him 
poor old neger eye see such a ting before 
her dead." While her mistress, now no 
longer a mistress, but a sister beloved, im- 
plored forgiveness for her past conduct, 
and ascribed all the glory of her change to 
God. A more affecting scene was never 



* This was the origin of the flourishing mission 
establishment at Jericho, and others in the parish of 
St. Thomas-in-the-Vale. 



witnessed, and never can be obliterated 
from the memory. O the transforming 
efficacy of redeeming grace and dying 
love ! the 

" Lion changed into a lamb, 
The vulture to a dove." 

The tyrant and the slave, one in Christ 
Jesus, falling on each other's necks and 
weeping tears of joy ! Surely it was a 
spectacle that attracted the gaze and admi- 
ration of angels ! Nor has the subsequent 
conduct of this once depraved and cruel 
individual deceived the expectations which 
were formed of the devotion of her heart 
and life to God. She has been a real 
blessing to the church, and through a se- 
ries of years has maintained an unblemish- 
ed reputation. During the persecutions of 
1832 she exhibited a degree of moral he- 
roism, which entitles her to a rank among 
the noblest of her sex. In addition to 
other instances of firmness and con- 
stancy, she maintained her resolution to 
keep her house open for the worship of 
God and the shelter of the missionaries, at 
whatever hazard, in the presence of the 
militia force of the parish, before which 
she was cited to appear in an open field.* 

" Her loyalty she kept, her zeal, her love." 

Instances of a similar kind, in relation 
to the other sex, would fill a volume; a 
single illustration must, however, suffice: — 

" A Guinea negro," says a missionary, 
" whose experience we lately heard, ob- 
served respecting himself that from the 
time he came from the Guinea coast, 'him 
no able to take word, if any one offend him, 
me lake knife, me take stick, me no satisfy 
till me drink him blood — now me able to 
lake twenty word ; — den me tief, me drink, 
ebery bad ting me do. Somebody say me 
must pray — me say no, what me pray for? 
rum best pray for me — give me something 



*The Rev. J. Clarke, writing at the time to the So- 
ciety at home, says — " Miss Cooper, the person who 
encouraged the preaching of the gospel here, was 
taken to the militia muster-ground, and was threaten- 
ed by the officers, but allowed to depart without mak- 
ing any concessions to their unrighteous requirement, 
that no more preaching should be allowed on her pre- 
mises. She was next, on the 30th of March, taken 
before a magistrate, and bound over, in the sum of 
1501., to take her trial at the next quarter-sessions. 
On the 7th of April she appeared, and traversed. I 
then bad her c^se removed into the grand court; and 
as it was for allowing me to preach on her ground, 
and attending such preaching, the attorney-general 
never brought it forward for trial." 



ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 



143 



good for eat, dat better dan pray.' < What 
made you change your mind, then?' 
' Massa, me go to church one Sunday, an 
me hear massa parson say, Jesus Christ 
came an pill him blood for sinner. Ah, 
someting say, you heary dat? Him pill 
him blood ! Ah ! so ! den me de sinner, 
me de tief, me de drunkard ! Him pill him 
blood for Guinea neger ! Oh, oh ! Jesus 
die for poo neger before him know him !' — 
thinking, as seems quite natural to them, 
that Jesus becomes acquainted with them 
just then, because he is just then telling 
them all they have done." 

The crafty Eboe; the savage," violent, 
and revengeful Coromantee ; the debased 
and semi-human Moco and Angolian, with 
those of other tribes described by histo- 
rians as " hardened in idolatry, wallowers 
in human blood, cannibals, drunkards, 
practised in lewdness, oppression, and 
fraud ; cursed with all the vices that can 
degrade humanity ; possessing no one good 
quality ; more brutal and savage than the 
wild beasts of the forest, and utterly in- 
capable of understanding the first rudi- 
ments of the Christian religion" — these, 
thousands of them, are now subdued, con- 
verted, raised to the dignity and intelli- 
gence of men, of sons and daughters of 
the Lord God Almighty, and are bringing 
forth the fruits of holiness, happiness, and 
Heaven. 



Section V. — Next to the salvation of 
his own soul, a really converted man is 
anxious for the salvation of the souls of 
others. This anxiety is manifested in an 
extraordinary degree by the churches in 
Jamaica. It is evidenced by the whole 
tenor of their conduct. Their feelings are 
strong, and they " cannot but speak of the 
things that they have seen and heard." It 
is an invariable rule in the churches with 
which the author is acquainted, on the ac- 
ceptance of a candidate for church fellow- 
ship, for the minister, deacons, or members 
of the church indiscriminately, to enforce 
upon his attention his duty to do all he can 
personally for the conversion of his fellow- 
creatures. This is often urged by the dea- 
cons of the church with great earnest- 
ness; and the similes they employ on these 
as on other occasions, though homely, are 
much to the purpose, and seldom fail of 



their effect. Said one, "Now you hear 
what minister say ; take care you no boil 
de pot alone;" meaning that he was not to 
feast on the blessings of the Gospel him- 
self without inviting his fellow-creatures 
to partake of them. " Suppose," said ano- 
ther, on a recent occasion, " you were to 
see a blind broder wandering by de river 
side ready to fall in an drown, what you 
do ?" " Me run to save him." " But sup- 
pose him say, ' me don't goin to drown, 
you must let me alone ; mind you own 
business ; if me drown, it notin to you?'" 
" Me must keep on coax him till me bring 
him away." The universal sentiment, in- 
deed, on such occasions is, " We must do 
all we can to hail poor sinners like weself, 
sitlin in de cave of darkness, to Jesus 
Christ." 

In their prayers on this subject they are 
generally the most animated and interest- 
ing, often exhibiting some of the finesl in- 
stances of pleading with God that perhaps 
we ever heard. The writer scarcely ever 
knew an instance in which a prayer was 
closed without a compassionate reference 
to the condition, and earnest appeals for 
the salvation of their fellow-men. In times 
of prevalent sickness it is by no means an 
unusual occurrence for those who lead the 
devotions at the public prayer-meetings to 
be so overcome by their feelings that their 
utterance is completely impeded, while the 
whole congregation is drowned in tears. 
At monthly missionary prayer-meetings, 
especially, they often mention the inhabi- 
tants of different parts of the world by 
name. The darkness, degradation, and 
misery of Africa awaken all their sympa- 
thies. Sometimes on such occasions they 
revert to the scenes of their childhood, the 
wars in which they assisted, and the cir- 
cumstances of their captivity, with as much 
vividness of recollection as though they 
were only recent occurrences, and mani- 
fest an anxiety truly indescribable for the 
salvation of any part of their families who 
may be yet alive. Nor do they forget their 
brethren in bonds, or the guilty perpetra- 
tors of the slave-trade, or the missionaries. 
To such a degree are they sometimes 
drawn out in love towards their perishing 
fellow-creatures, that when they can parti- 
cularize no further, they supplicate, in the 
warmth of their feelings and with true sub- 
limity of conception, that there may be a 
" full Heaven and an empty hell ; that 



144 



JAMAICA 



they may be saved from going to that 
place where no sun shine, no tar twinkle."* 
Nor are they content with merely 'pray- 
ing for the extension of the Redeemer's 
kingdom ; they know the necessity that 
exists for pecuniary contributions to this 
object, and, esteeming it both their duty 
and their privilege thus to honour the Lord 
with their substance, they do so in general 
cheerfully, and according to their ability. 
" Hence," says Mr. Candler, in his Journal 
before referred to, " my belief is that the 
Baptists and Methodists, who are in actual 
connexion, pay for church purposes of all 
kinds not less than twenty shillings per an- 
num each, yielding an income to these two 
bodies alone of nearly 70,000/. per an- 
num. The other classes of Dissenters 
from the Established Church depend more 
on extrinsic support; but these bodies pro- 
bably receive 10,000/. per annum from the 
people here. These sums, which at first 
view appear large, are devoted to several 
different objects ; a considerable part is ap- 
plied to the building of chapels and meet- 
ing-houses, which, in this country, is at- 
tended with great expense ; a chapel for 
600 persons costing at least 1500/. ster- 
ling. The building of school-rooms, and 
the support of school-masters and school- 
mistresses is another important item, as the 
Baptist Missionary Society allows nothing 
on this head from England, and the other 
missionary societies only part of the ex- 
pense; and the day-schools are numerous. 
Some part of these congregational funds 
are devoted to the support of the mission- 
aries and their families, several of whom 
depend entirely on what they receive from 
the people, drawing no part of their in- 
come from the societies at home; and their 
expenses in some instances are necessarily 
large, as they are compelled to keep many 
horses, and travelling in Jamaica is very 
costly. Then we may enumerate the re- 
pairs of buildings, salaries to door-keepers, 
grants to missionary societies, and the help 
of the sick and infirm poor." It is, how- 
ever, the opinion of the author that this es- 
timate of the amount of individual contri- 
butions is much too high. From his own 
experience and that of his brethren in the 



* With equal simplicity of language and thought, 
they sometimes pray — " O Lord, let dy word run from 
sugar-work to sugar-work, and from coffee-mount to 
coffee-mount, dat de whole earth may be filled with 
dy glory. Amen and amen." 



more populous towns of the island, he is 
convinced that one-half the amount stated 
by Mr. Candler is as much as is, under any 
circumstances, contributed by the people. 

Every one recognises it as his duty to 
do something in support of the cause; and, 
generally speaking, in the absence of real 
inability from sickness or other causes, 
this duty is performed; and it is performed 
voluntarily and cheerfully. 

On the subject of supporting the minis- 
ter it is a common observation, " Minister 
no tradesman, no merchant, no lawyer; 
don't come here to get a fortune ; as him 
work for we, we must work for him." 

Scarcely any object is brought before the 
churches in vain. The Bible, Anti-Slavery, 
and Missionary Societies, all secure their 
hearty co-operation. Individuals who ne- 
glect this duty, or whose contributions do 
not correspond with their ability, are re- 
primanded by the church, and in all cases 
are treated with coolness and reserve as 
guilty of inconsistency or sin. Covetous- 
ness, indeed, is regarded as a stain upon 
their profession — a disgrace upon their 
character — a disqualification for office in 
the church. 

Some of the Baptist churches have sup- 
ported their pastors, and to a considerable 
degree the out-stations and schools in their 
respective districts, for years ; and at the 
annual association, in 1S42, the whole of 
the missionaries resolved to cast themselves 
entirely upon their people for support. At 
the same time they pledged themselves on 
behalf of their churches to supply pecuniary 
means requisite for extending the work of 
God around them, and to some extent, for 
the maintenance of an institution designed 
to furnish native agents both for Jamaica, 
the neighbouring islands, and Africa. 

As stated by Mr. Candler, the greater 
part of the gross amount contributed by the 
people for religious purposes is given in 
trifling sums of from three-half-pence to 
three-pence each, the amount of their 
smaller coins; and these sums are given 
weekly. Hence it is the number and con~ 
tinuity of contributions that swell the ag- 
gregate amount; as long-continued rains, 
descending in single drops, form the inun- 
dation, or the separate particles of water, 
the ocean. 

As it is not generally the practice to 
hoard up money for events which may 
never occur, and exigencies that may never 



ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 



145 



arise, and which might be squandered by 
others in idleness and dissipation, they give 
largely and to various objects. They con- 
tribute towards chapel-building, the abo- 
lition of the slave-trade, the dissemination 
of the Gospel in Africa, — to their power, 
yea, and beyond it. In many cases their 
" deep poverty abounds unto the riches of 
their liberality." Among Christians of all 
denominations it is a frequent case for field- 
labourers, and individuals in a small way 
of trade, to give from one pound to three 
pounds, and four pounds each, to one or 
other of these objects on special occasions. 
An aged African female, who obtained her 
living by the manufacture and sale of a 
cool and innocent beverage, brought to the 
author some time since a piece of gold of 
the value of two dollars (eight shillings 
sterling) towards the building of a chapel 
then in progress. Thinking it more than 
she could afford, he hesitated to accept it. 
Tears immediately filling in her eyes, she 
said, " Minister, don't it a privilege to help 
on God's work ; and because me poor, 
minister don't want me to help? Me been 
work hard for it ; rise early, sit up late, 
hide up one fippenny, then anoder, till me 
get to two dollar, den me bring it come to 
minister ; and me must beg minister to take 
it." It is common for the poorest class of 
field-labourers, both male and female, 
husband and wife, to give from one shilling 
to four shillings each per month for months 
together, towards the same objects ; and 
sometimes, when a debt remains upon a 
place of worship, the congregation propose 
in a body to work additional hours per day, 
that they may at once free themselves from 
the incumbrance. By servants and others 
the same liberality is manifested. A young 
woman of colour, residing in the author's 
family, who has six shillings per week, a 
short time ago, after drawing small sums 
for her support, left in the hands of her 
mistress the value of four weeks' service 
for the African mission, two for herself 
and two for her aged grandmother; at the 
same lime cheerfully contributing to every 
other call that was made. On his recent 
return to England this same individual sent 
eighteen shillings, the amount of three 
weeks' wages, as a present to some 
children of whom she had previously the 
charge as a nurse. At a public meeting 
not many months since a black young man, 
a sailor, announced, that if it pleased God 



to spare him to return from the voyage on 
which he was then about to embark, he 
would give fifty dollars towards the Afri- 
can Mission — a pledge which he nobly re- 
deemed. Tradesmen, and others in a small 
way of business, have been known to give 
from one to three pounds and upwards re- 
peatedly towards the liquidation of chapel 
debts; and in some cases the wives of in- 
dividuals of this class have employed them- 
selves in menial occupations, to which they 
had been unaccustomed, that they might 
give the proceeds of it to the house of God. 
In numerous instances in the country parts 
of the island the congregations not only 
contribute towards these objects in a pecu- 
niary way, but also by actual labour, prin- 
cipally in the conveyance of materials. 
To mention but one instance, of the many 
that could be selected, as a specimen. The 
entire church and congregation at Sligo- 
ville devoted one day in the week to this 
object, each class labouring in succession, 
and often conjointly. They thus conveyed 
almost all the wood materials, and no in- 
considerable portion of the other requisites 
to the spot, bearing the more ponderous 
timber on their heads up an acclivity along 
narrow and almost inaccessible paths from 
the woods, full three miles distant, and 
carrying the rest from Spanish Town, a 
distance of twelve miles of steep ascent; 
thereby, on a moderate calculation, con- 
tributing in cheerful, energetic, voluntary 
labour, and that in addition to monthly 
pecuniary donations, the sum of three 
hundred pounds. 

To these evidences of genuine piety may 
be added another, without which the former 
would be but of little avail. They dedicate 
themselves to God in body, soul, and spirit, 
and unite their efforts with their contribu- 
tions and prayers. Among some of the de- 
nominations, and probably in a greater or 
less degree among al.l, it is thus with in- 
quirers and catechumens, as well as mem- 
bers. A negro convert cannot but tell of 
" how great things the Lord hath done for 
him." 

The Jamaica churches in general are 
essentially missionary churches, and each 
individual of which they are composed re- 
gards it as a sacred duty to do something 
to promote the glory of God, in the salva- 
tion of his fellow-men. Every one especial- 
ly aims at the conversion of those with 
whom he is connected — his relatives, his 



146 



JAMAICA: 



friends, his children, his servants. Male 
and female, young and old, rich and poor, 
are thus employed. They are not only all 
at work, but it might almost be said, always 
at work — not only every day, but almost 
every hour in the day. The work of God 
is their employment, not their recreation. 
"And whatsoever their hands find to do 
they do it with all their might," taking ad- 
vantage of every favourable occurrence 
that presents itself. Whether in the mar- 
ket, in the field, or on the public road, they 
seldom neglect an opportunity of speaking 
a word for God, and this they do with 
cheerfulness, and without hesitation or 
apology. To facilitate these operations, 
and to give them organization, as well as 
to secure vigilant and proper oversight, a 
special native agency is employed by some 
of the denominations termed leaders and 
helpers. In addition to the employment 
of leaders, the Wesleyans and Baptists 
make use of tickets. The system pursued 
by the Wesleyans is the same as that in 
operation among them at home. The 
practice of the Baptists in some respect re- 
sembles it. It is indeed a departure from 
the custom of the Baptist churches in Eng- 
land and elsewhere, but was adopted in 
consequence of the law in force, during 
slavery, prohibiting ministers of religion 
visiting estates without permission from the 
persons in charge. It was, in these circum- 
stances, found essential to a successful 
prosecution of missionary work. Where 
the churches were large it was considered 
also so advantageous to their purity and 
increase, that it has been continued, with 
slight variations, to the present day. The 
leader is selected from the most pious, in- 
telligent, and otherwise best qualified mem- 
bers in a particular district, and is appoint- 
ed to assist the minister in the performance 
of his pastoral duties, by watching over 
the members committed to his charge, and 
by assisting in the work of God in general. 
For these purposes they visit the sick, and 
report their condition to the church meet- 
ings ; hold prayer-meetings; meetings for 
exhortation, and endeavour to advance re- 
ligion generally throughout their district. 
Tickets, which are oblong pieces of card- 
paper, containing the date of the year, the 
initials of the different months or quarters, 
and sometimes a passage of scripture, are 
given to membeus and inquirers — to in- 
quirers to secure their regular attendance 



on the various means of grace, to bring 
them under strict spiritual supervision, and 
to afford the minister an opportunity of 
seeing them personally once a quarter, 
when such tickets are renewed or exchang- 
ed, and to enable him to ascertain the regu- 
larity, or otherwise, with which they dis- 
charge their external duties. They are 
given to the members, for the additional 
purpose of guarding the table of the Lord 
from the intrusion of improper characters, 
and as a guarantee to Christians of the 
same faith and order of their good charac- 
ter and standing in the churches to which 
they belong. In further pursuance of the 
plan adopted by the Wesleyans, contribu- 
tions of the people to the several objects of 
the station (amounting to sixpence each or 
upwards) are usually given at the time 
these tickets are changed or renewed. The 
practice, however, varies in many respects 
with almost every church and congrega- 
tion. 

Whenever any of the more private mem- 
bers succeed in awakening religious con- 
cern in the minds of others, they usually 
introduce them to the class to which they 
themselves belong, and to the house of 
God. After a term of probation such in- 
dividuals are usually brought up to the 
minister by their respective leaders, as new 
recruits (so sometimes pleasantly called), 
for tickets, and to be enrolled in the list of 
inquirers, the minister at the same time 
conversing with them, and endeavouring to 
ascertain their sincerity. 

Every member of each class endeavours 
to increase his own numbers, and mani- 
fests especial concern for the consistency 
and spiritual improvement of those he has 
been instrumental in bringing to a know- 
ledge of the truth. 

When strangers are seen in the house of 
God they are uniformly treated with 
kindness, many vying with each other for 
the honour of securing them as an addition 
to their lists. They are conversed with, 
and most probably invited to attend a 
social prayer-meeting held during the in- 
terval of worship or at the close of the day. 
This done, attention and kindness are re- 
renewed, and the result almost invariably 
is, that the individual becomes an inquirer. 

In cases of ungodly neighbours, and 
others suffering under temporal losses, 
relative bereavements, or personal afflic- 
tions, the members and inquirers indis-- 



ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 



147 



criminately visit them, proffer their assis- 
tance for domestic purposes, and in some 
cases relieve necessities that may exist. 
At the same time, while the heart is tender 
and susceptible of impression, these poor 
people talk to their afflicted friends, pray 
with and for them, repeat their visits and 
efforts, sometimes invite the attendance of 
their minister on these objects of their 
solicitude, and, under circumstances of 
hopeful recovery, obtain from the latter a 
promise of attendance at the house of God. 
In the one case it is not unusual for a 
Christian negro to bend the knees of an in- 
quiring penitent and teach him to pray for 
himself; in the other, to watch the impres- 
sion produced upon his mind by the ser- 
mon, and to enforce the great truths of it 
upon his attention afterwards, and thus 
persevering until (which is a frequent case) 
their efforts and prayers are crowned with 
a blessing from on high. 

Exclusive of regular class-meetings, it 
is a practice for members to hold prayer- 
meetings in each other's houses, to which, 
in pursuance of the same great object, they 
invite their neighbours, friends, or any 
strangers who may happen to be passing 
by. Tradesmen, pedlers, and even ser- 
vants removing from one family to another, 
or to any other part of the island, act upon 
the same principle, so that efforts for the 
salvation of their fellow-men constitute, in 
a word, the great work of their lives — their 
calling — some actually making it their 
business, as frequently as opportunities 
occur, to go from house to house, from es- 
tate to estate, and from the town to the 
country, for this purpose. 

The effects of such exertions in some 
instances would almost exceed belief. An 
aged black man, from a property six miles 
distant, hearing Mr. Coultart preach in 
Kingston soon after his arrival, was sav- 
ingly converted to God, and beginning im- 
mediately to tell " what a dear Saviour he 
had found," was instrumental in the con- 
version of between 100 and 200 persons 
who contributed to the origin of the church 
at Spanish Town. Numbers of these yet 
survive, and have, through a long course 
of years, sustained an honourable Christian 
character. Two of them, now far advanced 
in life, have been deacons of the church at 
Spanish Town from the period of its for- 
mation, upwards of twenty-five years ago, 
to the present time, their characters un- 



sullied by a single stain, and having their 
names enrolled in the chronicles of heaven 
as among the most devoted and useful, as 
well as the most faithful and devout of the 
church below. 

A respectable coloured female, resident 
in Spanish Town, who has been a member 
of the same church nearly the same length 
of time, and who has also maintained an 
equally unblemished reputation, has been 
the instrument in the hand of God in bring- 
ing upwards of a thousand persons under the 
sound of the Gospel, and thereby to the 
footstool of mercy and the fellowship of the 
church, who, humanly speaking, but for 
her efforts, would have lived and died 
without hope and without God in the world. 
Though scarcely possessing sufficient 
means for her support, she has devoted the 
last twenty years of her life almost wholly 
to the work of God. It is her meat and 
drink. From day to day, and from year 
to year, is she found inviting sinners, en- 
couraging the penitent, devising and super- 
intending plans for the conversion of the 
young, sheltering the persecuted, warning 
the careless, and endeavouring to reclaim 
the backslider — labouring almost night and 
day, and that often with a perseverance 
and courage, under adverse circumstances, 
which at once evinces the purity of her 
motives and the integrity of her heart. 

Instances of similar self-devotion are so 
common that it is difficult to make a selec- 
tion. The following relates to an aged 
black female in the country. She invited 
the ministers of the Gospel to preach in the 
village in which she resides, accommodated 
them, assisted in and superintended the 
erection of a place of worship on her own 
premises, travelled around the neighbour- 
hood to invite sinners to attend it, and 
oftentimes stood at her door by the road- 
side, particularly on a market-day, and 
addressed almost every individual who 
passed by on the subject of his eternal 
interest. She frequently devised expedients 
for detaining some of these passengers, 
addressing them with a natural eloquence 
and fervour truly astonishing. Under her 
vivid and powerful representations of the 
love of Christ, and the base ingratitude of 
sinners to him in return, the writer has 
seen the tear of penitence roll down the 
cheek of the persons addressed, and then 
has he seen her lead them to the house of 
prayer, and heard her almost agonize with 



148 



JAMAICA: 



God that he would break still more their 
rocky heart, and make them give them- 
selves up at once and entirely to the 
Saviour. Regardless of persecution or 
temporal loss, she would even address 
white people on the subject of religion, and 
few of them could gainsay the wisdom or 
spirit by which she spake ; and through 
her instrumentality, directly and indirectly, 
hundreds have put on Christ, by an open 
profession, who have generally adorned it 
by a consistent walk and conversation. 

Some years ago an intelligent servant, 
then a slave, who was a member of the 
church at Spanish Town, came to her min- 
ister in great concern, saying she was 
about to remove with her mistress and 
family to Falmouth, where she would be 
deprived of all means of spiritual instruc- 
tion. Her minister presented her with a 
Bible, and, knowing her ardent love to 
Christ, and her zeal for the promotion of 
his glory, encouraged her to hope that she 
might be taken there, in the providence of 
God, to open the way for the preaching of 
the Gospel in that town and neighbour- 
hood, at the same time recommending her 
to exert herself to the utmost for this object. 
She did so, seizing opportunities as she 
could obtain them from her daily work. 
She talked to her fellow-servants, went 
from house to house on the same errand of 
love, held prayer-meetings, formed a class, 
and so successfully persevered in her bene- 
volent efforts that in the course of two or 
three years she collected a number of be- 
tween 200 and 300 souls, whom she pre- 
sented to the missionary who first opened 
the station as her children in the Gospel. 
After some further probation, and an inves- 
tigation of their character and qualifica- 
tions, the greater part of them were bap- 
tized, and formed the origin of the church 
at Falmouth. Among the first fruits of 
her pious labours were two of her fellow- 
servants, who were baptized by the author in 
Spanish Town, whither they had come with 
their master on his annual visit as a mem- 
ber of the council. One of them was chosen 
a deacon of the church at Falmouth, and 
both himself and this devoted woman have 
ever since been among its most useful mem- 
bers and distinguished ornaments. Several 
cases have occurred in which female ser- 
vants have been instrumental in the con- 
version of their mistresses. The writer is 
personally acquainted with six such cases ; 



two were wives of clergymen of the Church 
of England, and the others ladies of equal 
respectability, while numbers have been 
induced to go to the house of God as the 
result of the importunities of their depen- 
dants. The influence of pious servants in 
this respect among the higher and middling 
classes of society in Jamaica will never be 
known until the resurrection of the just. 
Finding their inspiration in their theme, it 
may be said of the devoted people that, 
" Daily in the Temple and in every house 
they cease not to teach and preach Jesus 
Christ." Similar to the plan pursued by 
the ordinary members of the church is that 
adopted by Sunday-school teachers. They 
endeavour to increase the prosperity of 
their schools by personal visits and appli- 
cations for scholars, seeking after absen- 
tees, and visiting the sick. At a suitable 
age the children are taken from the schools, 
and formed into Bible classes, which are 
placed under the care of respectable and 
intelligent members of the church. Thus 
all classes receive individual attention and 
personal instruction. " Each sapling is 
trained and nourished until it becomes a 
tree." 



Section VI — Satisfactory to every real 
Christian as must be such evidences of the 
real piety of our Jamaica churches, there 
is yet another to be added which is per- 
haps still more interesting and decisive. 
Thousands have proved the sincerity of 
their profession, and the firmness of their 
confidence, on the day of affliction and in 
the hour of death. These are seasons 
when the reality of religion is brought to 
the test, and no where is it more severely 
tested than in a land where sickness so 
often terminates fatally, and with so little 
warning. The experience and conduct of 
Christian negroes and their descendants 
under such circumstances have been truly 
astonishing. Their uniform calmness, 
their patience, their resignation, their deep 
spirituality of mind, their ardent relish for 
holy conversation — all indicate the exis- 
tence of divine and holy principle. 

Calling on an aged and devoted deacon 
of the church who was confined by sick- 
ness, and discovering a sadness in his 
countenance, his pastor inquired the cause. 
He replied, " I am like the Apostle minis- 
ter was preaching about lately. I have ho 



ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 



149 



wish to stand longer in this sinful world. 
I desire to be with Christ, which is far bet- 
ter. But sometimes, when I think of the 
family (his class), my heart sinks ; some 
of them are careless and upstart, and I am 
obliged to coax them ; but if another one 
come, who don't know their temper, may 
be, they get vex, and so scatter about and 
forsake the fountain of living water ! But" 
— (here he paused, and, detecting the spirit 
of self-sufficiency which dictated the latter 
sentence, he added) — " but who is me, 
poor old man, God cannot take care of him 
own if I am dead ? You see, minister, 
how my wicked heart and the devil work." 
Here he looked upward, and ejaculated 
for more of the grace of God, to keep him 
humble, and that his eye, as he expressed 
it, might be kept more steady on "precious 
Master Jesus." 

Another, under circumstances somewhat 
similar, after manifesting a full assurance 
of hope as to her own interest in the merits 
of the Redeemer, said, " There is but one 
thing that troubles me; I have not been so 
faithful to the souls committed to my care 
as I ought to have been. O, if I should 
have ruined any by my neglect ! This is 
the only thing I desire to live for, that I 
may labour to show them more of their 
own sinfulness — their need of more entire 
dependence upon the righteousness of 
Christ, and more of the Holy Spirit's influ- 
ences, to renew and sanctify their hearts. 
I have sometimes fretted when any of them 
have walked contrary, and have been 
ready to give up the work ; but I pray my 
Heavenly Father to forgive me, and try me 
again, if it be his blessed will ; if not, I 
am ready to go. ' Father, not my will, 
but thine be done.' " 

Multitudes in their last moments have 
exhibited a tranquillity which death could 
not ruffle, and a confidence which the king 
of terrors could not shake. "That poor 
man's life must be a misery to him," said 
a gentleman to a missionary, who was 
conducting him round a negro village, al- 
luding to an aged negro who sat at the 
door of a lonely hut, suffering from a 
loathsome disease. " Poor creature ! and 
he seems to be forsaken by the rest of the 
people." The old man caught the words, 
and looking benignantly at the speaker, re- 
plied, with considerable animation, "No, 
me no poor cretur ; me family very good, 
give me someting to eat, and Massa Jesus 



too good to me, poo sinner; him give me 
comfort here" (putting his hand upon his 
heart). 

Minister. " Well, but are you not 
almost tired of carrying about your poor 
afflicted body ?" 

Negro. " No, minister, you poo neger 
can't tired ; me sitten down waiten for 
Massa Jesus to call ; den me go and left 
me poo body behind." Lifting his eyes 
up to Heaven, he said with a smile, 
" There him is ; him looking down pon 
me ; and it seems like him say, « keep 
heart little longer, me soon come call for 
now ;' so, minister, me satisfy. Me bin 
waiten-boy for Buckra once, an me bleedge 
to wait for massa time ; now me sarvant 
for Massa Jesus, and me can't patient wait 
fo him time?" 

To one who had been active in bringing 
strangers to the house of God, and under 
other means of Christian instruction, but 
who, it was feared, sometimes betrayed a 
self-righteous spirit, his pastor observed, 
" Take care you don't deceive yourself; 
your heart is wicked and deceitful ; and 
perhaps it is the devil who tells you you 
will go to Heaven, because you have done 
a little good to your fellow-creatures." 
" Me minister," said the dying saint, whose 
body was rapidly dissolving under the in- 
fluence of a burning fever; " minister, me 
tank you, God bless you ; give me warn- 
ing, but no, no. What work me done for 
God ? me poor ting, no ; me hang only pon 
Massa Jesus' precious blood, same like de 
dying tief who hang upon de cross ; me 
same sinner like him." 

" It is a solemn thing to go into the pre- 
sence of a heart-searching God ; don't you 
feel afraid at the thought?" "Minister 
sometime read to we about de prodigal 
son. Him fraid to go back to him fader 
house?" 

" But how do you know that God is 
your father?" " Me heart tell me so ; me 
tick to him same like de skin tick to me 
poo dyin flesh ; and, minister, Massa Jesus 
no promise ?" 

He expired in the midst of convulsive 
pain — the breaking up of the partition 
which stood betwixt his soul and the sight 
of that Being who was present with him in 
his sickness, and who was about to mani- 
fest himself to him in all the fullness of joy. 

" We have had much sickness," says a 
missionary, " among our members of late, 



150 



JAMAICA : 



and many deaths, as also some pleasing 
testimonies of their happy prospects. A 
poor negro man called to invite me to the 
sick bed of his friend : I went, there he is 
stretched upon a mattress which lies on the 
floor, his hands folded and resting on his 
breast, with his eyes shut apparently in 
earnest prayer. After the lapse of a mi- 
nute or two he opened his eyes, and stretch- 
ing out his hand, said, ' Ah, massa, you 
know Adam ! here him lie now, me often 
hear you voice in prayer ; me often hear 
you praise ; once more, massa, let me hear 
your voice. O sing, singde praise of Jesus 
once more ; and den may be while you 
sing, me steal away to Jesus.' Placing 
his wrist upon the finger points of the other 
hand, and raising his elbow to give the 
hand a rapid descent, so that nothing could 
rest upon it, said, ' So the world tan wi me 
now, it ready to trow me off, but den O me 
hope, me hope, though me no sure, me will 
den fall into the arms of Jesus.' Another 
said, after I had talked with him and pray- 
ed, and was leaving, ' Farewell ! to-mor- 
row, massa, before sun rise on you, me 
shall be wi Jesus [so he was] ; me shall 
go singing from this bad world' [so he 
did]." 

" A negro woman at the parish-house, 
being near death, sent for me. I found her 
in a very small room on the floor by the 
bed of her mistress, her mistress standing 
by. I told her of her worthlessness. ' O 
yes, me noting worth, me know, but me 
must go to Jesus. So long me do bad, me 
conduct to Jesus very bad.' I said, ' Yes, 
you deserve hell.' ' O yes, though me no 
know what hell mean ; but if it mean, me 
get bad for do bad, me deserve to get de 
worst ; but me must hope and try Jesus.' 
'Do you think Jesus will receive you?' 
' Ah, massa, him no lub me when me well ! 
yes, him love me den, now him send sick, 
him no going to throw me off now. No, 
no ! now me sick and near de grave, none 
care for me poor neger like my Jesus.' " 

These are instances of patient waiting 
and steady confidence on the part of the 
simple-hearted Christians of our churches 
— it is true piety displayed by the depth, 
the sublimity, the moral ardour, the men- 
tal calm, the unfeigned reverence, the 
cheerful affiance, and in the simplicity in 
which it presents itself to the Father of 
Spirits and searcher of hearts. The scenes 



beheld at such periods are triumphant: 
oftentimes the faith of the dying, treading 
the firm ground of the promise, appears at 
once to enter within the veil, and to lay 
hold on eternal life, while angels seemed 
to beckon them away, as if in waiting to 
convey their happy spirits to the purchased 
possession. One could scarcely fail to be 
reminded of Jacob at Penuel, of Moses on 
the Mount, or of David, and Simeon and 
Paul, in their expiring moments. An in- 
teresting individual of colour, arrested by 
the hand of death in the prime of life, 
shortly after a severe relative bereave- 
ment, sent for the writer to visit him. In 
the early part of his affliction, and for 
many previous years, he " went about to 
establish his own righteousness, not sub- 
mitting to the righteousness which is of 
God by faith." His views became gradu- 
ally clear and comprehensive, and a short 
time before he died his mind was filled with 
joy unspeakable. Looking at his children, 
who were soon to be left orphans, he said, 
" For a long time I feared I could not 
leave them ; the thought was like a dagger 
to my heart; but now I can give them up 
without a pang; 'the Lord will provide 
for them.' I can trust his promise, he 
cannot lie. I am now ready." Then 
clasping his hands, and looking upward in 
ecstacy, he exclaimed, " Come, Lord 
Jesus, come quickly ! Why tarry the 
wheels of thy chariot ?" A fit of cough- 
ing seized him as the result of this effort, 
and he ruptured a blood-vessel. A swoon 
succeeded, from which recovery seemed 
impossible. But he rallied ; and looking 
around with astonishment on his weeping 
relatives and friends he uttered at intervals, 
as his breathing allowed him. "And am 
I come back again ? — Oh, what happiness 
have 1 enjoyed ! I have been in Heaven! 
1 have heard the angels sing ! I have seen 
the Lamb in the midst of the throne : O, 
that you could have seen what I have seen ! 
Alas ! that I am here again ; but it will be 
only for a moment. This has been but a 
foretaste of the glory that yet remains — a 
sip of the river of life ; what will it be to 
drink of it through eternity?" He now 
summoned his remaining strength, and ad- 
dressed all present with an earnestness 
and sweetness of manner almost seraphic, 
and soon after expired, with a hope full of 
immortality. 



ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 



151 



Never before did the writer enter into 
the spirit of those beautiful lines, — 

" When one that holds communion with the skies 
Has filled his urn whence these pure waters rise, 
And once more mingles with us meaner things, 
'Tis even as if an angel shook his wings! 
Immortal fragrance fills the circuit wide 
That tells us whence his treasures are supplied." 

Similar to the dying experience of this 
individual were the last moments of an 
aged female, who for many years had 
eminently adorned the doctrine of God her 
Saviour. Her calmness — her heavenly 
mindedness — her almost complete abstract- 
edness from the world — her love to Christ, 
and zeal for his glory, in the salvation of 
her fellow-creatures, had been long re- 
markable, but towards the closing scene of 
her life all the graces of the Spirit seemed 
matured and ripened. Being greatly re- 
spected in the town and neighbourhood, 
numbers of persons of all classes succes- 
sively crowded around her bed to take a 
last farewell. Her chamber seemed the 
verge of Heaven. She was often in rap- 
tures indescribable. These feelings were 
caught in some degree by her pious atten- 
dants, and the intervals from pain and re- 
pose were passed in reading passages of 
Scripture, in singing, holy conversation, 
and prayer. She seemed assimilated to 
the spirits of the just made perfect — in a 
mortal body, indeed, yet detached from 
mortality — in the midst of her relatives 
and friends, yet wholly separated from 
them. The careless and gay amongst her 
visiters were struck with astonishment at 
the happiness she enjoyed, and at the fer- 
vour and force of her appeals and exhor- 
tations to them, and many, as well as the 
servants about the premises, seemed in- 
voluntarily to say, " how sweet and awful 
is this place ! Let me die the death of the 
righteous, and let my last end be like his." 
She died singing those beautiful lines be- 
ginning — 

" See the kind angels at the gates 
Inviting me to come ;" 

in which she was joined, at her request, 
by the Christian friends whom she had now 
summoned around her bed. 

Numerous instances have also occurred, 
in which teachers and children in Sabbath- 
schools, under dying circumstances, have 
exhibited views of the plan of salvation 
equally clear, evidences of their personal 
interest in the Saviour equally satisfactory, 



and happiness no less really the result of 
the transforming, sanctifying, transporting, 
influence of divine and sovereign grace, 
than those of riper years. One little black 
boy, about twelve years of age, for some 
days before his death was almost inces- 
santly speaking about Christ and the hea- 
venly world. Although almost blind from 
the effects of the disease of which he suf- 
fered, he often sat up on his lowly bed and 
addressed his school-fellows on these sub- 
jects, imploring them to repent and return 
to God, through Jesus Christ, that they 
might meet him in Heaven, and otherwise 
speaking and acting, so as to draw num- 
bers of even irreligious neighbours to the 
house to listen to his admonitions. Amono- 
the last words he was heard to articulate, 
and which he had often repeated, were, 
" God is my Father, Christ is my Re- 
deemer, the Holy Spirit is my Sanctifier, 
and Heaven is my home." 

Another, about the same age, whose im- 
mediate relatives were of disreputable cha- 
racter, earnestly begged them to send for 
his minister. Fearing lest his anxiety on 
this account might accelerate the progress 
of the disease, a messenger was at leno-th 
despatched in haste for him. When he 
arrived the room was crowded with the 
schoolfellows of the child, who, with his 
mother and other relatives and friends, 
were overwhelmed with grief. He imme- 
diately recognised his minister, and asked 
him to pray for him and for his mother, 
requesting him afterwards to talk to his 
parent, adding that he could not die hap- 
pily until his mother made a promise to go 
to the house of God. Having answered 
various questions which were proposed to 
him in a manner that far exceeded expec- 
tation, he beckoned the minister to come 
nearer to him, and whispered, " Mother 
don't like to part with me, but 1 don't wish 
to live; I wish to go to my precious Sa- 
viour — to live with him, where there is no 
sin. 1 am not afraid to die; I feel quite 
happy." He then requested his school- 
fellows to sing. He was asked what hymn. 
He said " Vital," meaning " Pope's Ode." 
He survived but a few hours, and then, 
young as he was, ascended to his Father, 
and his God. 

These instances might be greatly multi- 
plied, but another only must suffice. It is 
the case of one of the first female scholars 
in the Sabbath-school at Spanish Town, 



152 



JAMAICA: 



and who subsequently became one of its 
steadiest and most devoted teachers. With 
the exception of one or two departures 
from consistency, which her pastor re- 
garded as the effect of her natural liveli- 
ness of disposition, and which were pain- 
ful to her in the retrospect, she gave him 
no occasion to speak to her in the lan- 
guage of reproof. Her death was among 
the most tranquil, happy, and triumphant 
of any that have been recorded. When 
the writer entered her apartment for the 
last time, which was after an absence of 
some months from the island, he found her 
sitting upon her bed propped up by pillows, 
awaiting his arrival; and never will he 
forget the circumstances of the interview. 
Eagerly grasping his hand, she faintly 
articulated, " See, here I am, minister, 
only sitting up waiting your return, which 
I have been praying for, and which my 
heavenly Father has been so good as to 
allow me to see;" and then lifting up her 
eyes to heaven, glistening with love and 
gratitude and tenderness, she exclaimed, 
" Now, Lord, lettest thou thy servant de- 
part in peace, for mine eyes have seen thy 
salvation. I have waited for thy salvation, 
O Lord! O Death, where is thy sting; 
O Grave, where is thy victory 1 the sting 
of death is sin, and the strength of sin is 
the law ; but blessed be God who giveth 
me the victory through our Lord Jesus 
Christ." Disease had made rapid inroads 
upon her once apparently sound and vigor- 
ous constitution, and it was evident that 
death had already begun to execute his 
commission. It was late in the evening 
when this visit was paid, and the writer 
hastened home, purposing to see her again 
on the following morning ; but he saw her 
no more. During the interval she had re- 
signed her happy spirit into the hands of 
him who gave it. Shortly after his de- 
parture, she handed her Bible to a female 
friend and attendant, requesting her to read 
a favourite chapter, after which a verse or 
twp of a hymn was sung, and prayers of- 
fered ; in the midst of this latter exercise 
she expired without a struggle or groan. 
She departed to be with Christ, — sweetly 
fell asleep in Jesus. 

" Night-dews fall not more gently to the ground, 
Nor weary, worn-out winds expire more soft," 

Upwards of four hundred persons, in- 
cluding the teachers and children of the 



Sabbath-school, followed her remains to 
the grave; the setting sun, to which the 
departed bore in one respect so striking a 
resemblance, bursting upon the procession 
as it turned an angle of the street, afforded 
a subject to one deeply interested in that 
event which absorbed his contemplations, 
until they arrived at a kind of family re- 
ceptacle which was embosomed in a clump 
of trees. By this time twilight had thrown 
a softened light on every object around — 
and from the general solemnity of the 
scene — the many recollections of painful 
interest it excited, and the rapid approach 
of darkness, the ceremony was soon per- 
formed, and the mourners who had hitherto 
restrained their grief, or had expressed it 
in half-stifled sobs, now gave full vent to 
their feelings, and " dropping tears upon 
the grave," retired. As previously pro- 
posed, the bereaved, and many of the spec- 
tators proceeded to the House of God, and 
there, while the heart was yet tender and 
susceptible of impression, the minister en- 
deavoured to improve the event. On the 
following Sabbath he preached a funeral 
sermon for her from 1 Cor. xv. 55 — 57, 
almost the last words she was distinctly 
heard to utter. There was a crowded 
auditory, and from the pulpit it presented 
a truly affecting scene. Although several 
days had passed away since the removal 
of their young friend to her long home, the 
circumstance had lost none of its interest, 
especially with the youthful part of the 
congregation. It was evident that they 
had been bereaved, and they had a heart 
to feel the loss they had sustained. The 
solemn service was commenced by singing 
the 176th hymn in the Sunday Scholai 
Companion. 

" Death has been here, and borne away 
A sister from our side; 
Just in the morning of her days, 
As young as we, she died." 

Pope's Ode, as founded on the language 
of the text, followed the prayer, and 18th 
hymn, Book I. (Dr. Watts) succeeded the 
sermon, — 

" Hear what the voice from heaven proclaims 
For all the pious dead ; 
Sweet is the savour of their names, 
And soft their sleeping bed." 

The verses were sung principally by the 
teachers and children of the Sabbath- 
school, and in such a tone of sympathy 



ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 



153 



and pathos as could not fail to affect the 
feelings and the heart. Great solemnity 
pervaded the whole congregation, and from 
this and other favourable symptoms, rea- 
sonable and earnest hopes were entertain- 
ed that both the event and the circum- 
stances connected with it would be sancti- 
fied and blessed to many, both young and 
old ; hopes that were fully realized, as not 
fewer than seven, chiefly young persons, 
were savingly impressed with the solemni- 
ties of the evening, and are now following 
the deceased as she followed Christ — orna- 
ments to the Church and blessings to all 
around them. 



" I saw the end of time, the incipient birth 
Of the new heavens and new-created earth. 
Saw I the negro? Yes, I saw him there 
In those bright robes the Saviour's followers wear." 

To several of the topics enumerated in 
this and the preceding chapter much might 
have been added illustrative, not only of 
the sincere and devoted piety possessed 
and exemplified by the Jamaica churches, 
but also of the great results of philanthro- 
pic effort in general which has been brought 
under review. Such additions, however, 
the author regarded as quite unnecessary, 
convinced as he is that no true Christian 
can reflect upon the statements already 
made, in connexion with the satisfactory 
and undeniable evidence adduced, without 
exclaiming with grateful emotion, " What 
hath God wrought?" "It is the Lord's 
doings, and marvellous in our eyes." 

To give a consecutive view of the various 
instrumental causes which have contributed 
to these great results, will be the subject of 
the succeeding chapter. 



CHAPTER XVII. 

PRINCIPAL INSTRUMENTAL CAUSES TO 
WHICH THESE GREAT RESULTS ARE TO 
BE ATTRIBUTED. 

Abolition of the Slave Trade— Efforts of the African 
Institution— Of Anti-slavery and Agency Societies 
—Establishment and operation of Schools— Circu- 
lation of Bibles and Tracts— Moral Influence ex- 
erted by Missionaries— Their Efforts for the Im- 
provement of the Temporal Condition of the Peo- 
ple—Insurrection or Disturbances in 1832 and 1833 
—Establishment and operation of Schools— Pecu- 
liar System of Instrumentality employed by the 
larger Churches— Spirit of Prayer possessed by the 
People— The preaching of the Gospel, accompanied 
by the Influence of the Holy Spirit. 

It is an axiom in philosophy that every 
effect must have an adequate cause. IC it 

11 



be interesting to the statesman to mark the 
gradations through which nations, once 
barbarous and uncivilized, have passed, 
till at length they have become distinguish- 
ed for their social refinement, their political 
or commercial greatness : it cannot be less 
gratifying to the Christian to trace the va- 
rious steps which have led to the moral and 
spiritual renovation of any portion of our 
race ; by which the " word of the Lord 
has grown mightily and prevailed," — 
" liberty been proclaimed to the captive, 
and the opening of the prison to them that 
were bound." 

Foremost in the list of causes which 
have contributed to this great result in Ja- 
maica is to be placed the formation of the 
Society for the Abolition of the Slave 
Trade. Almost all the mild and benignant 
laws enacted for the benefit and protection 
of the negro slave were of subsequent date 
to the first agitation of the question by the 
British Parliament, and may therefore be 
fairly presumed to have been suggested by 
that movement. By diminishing the num- 
ber of the victims of this accursed traffic, 
the abolition lessened in an equal propor- 
tion that amount of ignorance, superstition, 
and profligacy, which was the necessary re- 
sult of every fresh importation from Africa. 
So long as this nefarious system con- 
tinued it seemed to present an insurmount- 
able obstacle, not only to social, but espe- 
cially to moral and religious improvement. 
Its injurious effects were felt not only by 
the black, but equally by the whole mass of 
the white and coloured population. Hence 
its abolition must be regarded as having 
materially contributed to that series of 
events which led to the result described in 
the preceding chapters. By changing in 
some degree the relative position of the 
proprietor and the slave, by awakening in 
the bosom of the latter a sense of the atro- 
cious wrongs of which he was the subject, 
and by making the former, for his own in- 
terest, more tenacious of the life and com- 
fort of his living chattels, as well as, by 
leading the degraded African to imitate the 
manners and customs of his while oppres- 
sors, one great obstacle was removed, and 
the way prepared for the final triumph of 
civilization, morality, and religion. The 
abolition of the slave-trade lcd°lo the de- 
struction of slavery itself. The cham- 
pions of abolition, in searching for evi- 
dence by which to sustain their allegations 



154 



JAMAICA : 



respecting the monstrous cruelties and 
atrocities of the inhuman traffic, discovered 
that the " half had not been told them," 
and that even should they succeed in their 
efforts, the wretched offspring of those 
already imported would be left, doomed to 
hopeless and interminable bondage. As 
the result of this conviction the African 
Association was formed, one object of 
which was to collect and diffuse such in- 
formation as might awaken the public 
mind, excite its sympathies, and secure its 
co-operation in the further prosecution of 
their great and godlike undertaking. 

The African Association was succeeded 
by the Anti-Slavery Society, whose efforts 
were still more especially directed to the 
entire extermination of the existing sys- 
tem ; and which, by its ample means of 
information, its effective agency, and well- 
conducted periodicals, diffused far and 
wide the horrifying facts it had collected. 
So deep was the impression thus made 
upon the public mind that it led, in 1823, to 
the memorable resolutions of Mr. Canning, 
and in 1832 to the Apprenticeship scheme. 
By the better informed of the abolitionists 
this latter measure, though hailed by many 
as a boon, was clearly foreseen to be 
fraught with fresh woes to the unhappy ob- 
jects of their sympathy. Soon their worst 
fears were realized ; and the report of the 
missionaries, sustained by the personal 
observations of Messrs. Sturge, Harvey, 
Lloyd, Scoble and Stuart, whose state- 
ments were reiterated through the land, 
from the pulpit, the platform, and the 
press, at length resulted, as has already 
been stated, in the bestowment of full and 
complete emancipation. 

In order to form a correct estimate of 
the bearing of this good measure upon the 
moral and religious condition of Jamaica, 
it is necessary to bear in mind that it was 
a blessing bestowed upon a people already 
prepared for its reception. And by what 
means had that preparation been effected ? 
By education. One of the first acts of 
missionaries was the establishment of 
schools: and, long before the abolition of 
slavery, these institutions had exerted a 
most beneficial influence over the negro 
population. It was chiefly by their influ- 
ence that the long-cherished notion of the 
mental inferiority of the African race was 
exploded — that they acquired an increased 
acquaintance with the word of God — that 



they were taught to regard themselves as 
men — rational, responsible, and immortal 
beings. More acutely than in the days of 
absolute ignorance did they then feel the 
thraldom by which they were bowed down. 
Their unredressed grievances became in- 
creasingly palpable, and assumed a dilated 
form. While education had enlarged their 
views it increased the sensibilities of their 
minds : the " iron entered into their souls." 
In the meantime the instructions of the 
missionaries, and the precepts of the Gos- 
pel which had taken possession of their 
hearts, enabled them to submit to their 
condition with patience, trusting to the 
British people, under God, for that deliver- 
ance which they believed to be at hand. 

Since that auspicious event, when liberty 
and hope first dawned in reality upon these 
long oppressed descendants of Ham, the 
value and importance of schools have be- 
come increasingly apparent. The know- 
ledge they conveyed was the knowledge of 
the Scriptures — the knowledge of light and 
truth. Thousands of coloured and black 
children have drunk at these living streams : 
while the most salutary habits of virtue 
were planted and confirmed. The multi- 
plied blessings which they have been the 
means of communicating compel the be- 
holder to exclaim with astonishment and 
0-ratitude — " what hath God wrought !" 

Schools contributed in a very considera- 
ble degree to promote the temporal interest 
of the people, enabled many of the negro 
race to find their way into public offices, 
fitted them to become confidential servants 
in mercantile establishments, to become 
subordinate managers of estates, and pro- 
perties in general, as well as to fill other 
important situations, to which without these 
advantages they could never have aspired. 

Nor were the moral results of education 
less conspicuous. It inspired feelings of 
self-respect and self-confidence — taught the 
people that character was essential — show- 
ed them the advantages of civilization — 
gave them a taste for the enjoyment of do- 
mestic life, and created a relish for those 
pleasures or acquirements which stimulate 
the industry and transform the aspect and 
character of society — refining the habits 
and awakening the charities of the pupils 
— softening their hearts and restraining 
their passions. Nor is it. too much to 
affirm that hundreds of interesting young 
females have thus been saved from prosti- 



ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 



155 



tution, enabled to form reputable matrimo- 
nial connexions, and who are now living 
in comfort and respectability. 

The influence which schools have ex- 
erted upon the religious condition of the 
people has, perhaps, never been exceeded 
in any part of the world. " They have 
supplied a large tributary stream to the 
church." In the metropolitan schools, 
where, during the last ten years, nearly 
300 children have been in daily attendance, 
it is believed that full one half have been 
savingly converted to God,*' while the rest 
have been brought under an influence 
which may, at no distant period, become 
productive of the same blessed results. 
Many of these are now governesses and 



* " A few years ago," says a missionary, " a gentle- 
man of colour came from the country to reside in 
Spanish Town, bringing with him a large family of 
children, which he had by two sisters, his slaves, and 
begged me to take two or three of them into the 
schools on the easiest terms the institution would 
allow. Knowing that he was much reduced in his 
circumstances, and that the children had been in 
every sense of the word deplorably neglected, 1 
offered to educate the whole on his paying a trifling 
consideration yearly for the eldest, a girl, who seemed 
to be about thirteen years of age. They all accord- 
ingly attended the schools, and continued regular in 
their attendance for several years. JNow I have the 
high gratification to state, that, out of that whole 
number, only two have turned out irreligious charac- 
ters. Of the rest, one died when a scholar, a most 
triumphant death; four are exemplary and useful 
members of a Christian church ; and the others, some 
of whom are still at school, and, with one exception, 
connected with a Bible-class, already afford pleasing 
indications of piety. Three of the four just men- 
tioned as decidedly pious are now in charge of 
schools under my direction, and one is respectably 
married. Two of the younger ones succeeding next 
in age are being trained at the Metropolitan .Normal 
School for Teachers ; and I am not without hopes 
that, in a short time, the whole family will be thus 
devoted and useful. 

" Soon after the children were received into the 
school, the parents also attended the house of God. 
The mothers almost immediately abandoned their 
evil habits ; and, in the course of a few months they 
exhibited such a decided and happy change of heart 
and conduct that they were admitted as members of 
the church under my pastoral care. To this day they 
continue steady and exemplary in their lives and pro- 
fession. It was my long cherished hope that the 
father also would prove himself to be a brand plucked 
from the fire ; and by some it is still thought that his 
repentance was sincere, but his destiny has long 
since been determined by an unerring Judge. At his 
decease both the mothers and the children were cast 
almost unknown and unbefriended on the world; 
but the latter, from the knowledge which the oldest 
of them had acquired in the schools of a few of the 
mechanic arts, as well as of reading, writing, and 
arithmetic (a school of industry being then connected 
with the establishment), have, by the blessing of God, 
supported themselves in comfort and respectability, 
whilst the surviving parents have abundantly realized 
the promise of God to those who trust in him, that 
their bread should be given them, and their water 
should be sure." 



school-masters, or assistant missionaries, 
the latter of whom, in addition to their 
other duties, carry on divine worship, and 
conduct various religious services during 
the week. In the Spanish Town district 
alone, including female teachers, there are 
no less than twelve of these pious and de- 
voted agents, irrespective of those who in 
other parts of the island occupy similar 
situations. 

In Jamaica, schools have already proved 
emphatically the nurseries of the churches, 
and to them are the missionaries confidently 
looking for a succession of well qualified 
native agents, who shall " prepare the way 
of the Lord," and proclaim the glad tidings 
of mercy, not only in the still destitute 
portions of their own land, but throughout 
the islands of the west — in Africa, and the 
contiguous continent of South America. 

The circulation of the Scriptures has 
been productive of incalculable benefits. 
It has not only inspired a regard for the 
word of God, never previously felt, but has 
greatly increased the demand for its pos- 
session, as well as the ability and desire 
to read it. In a variety of respects it has 
operated most favourably, not only upon 
the spiritual but upon the moral and intel- 
lectual condition of the people. At first 
but few of the negroes were able to read ; 
but, once possessed of the Book of God ; , 
they could not rest satisfied till they had 
become acquainted with its sacred con- 
tents. In numerous instances the aged 
and infirm were taught to read by their 
children and grand-children. Boys and 
girls from the schools were frequently en- 
gaged, after school hours, as teachers of 
adults; and hundreds, by the mere posses - 
sion of a Bible, were induced to avail them- 
selves of those means of instruction which 
almost every missionary-station afforded. 
By obtaining the assistance of others to 
read it to them, the knowledge of divine 
truth was also greatly extended. On in- 
quiring of those who made application for 
Bibles, whether they could read, the fre- 
quent answer was returned, " No, but me 
like to have God's book in fie house, so 
me can look upon it, and it bring good 
toughts into me mind ; make me tink of de 
word minister preach to we. Me can't 
read it now, but me hope to read it soon — 
me goin to get one broder to larn me. 
Besides, when a broder come to me house 
who can read, me beg him fo read God's 



156 



JAMAICA: 



word fo me, and den me go call de family 
to come sit down, and heary it read ; and 
me feel much comfort." Sometimes house- 
servants have assured the missionary that 
they wanted a Bible, " because dey would 
try and get young misses and massa to 
read it to dem, and den, perhaps, God 
would bless it to dem all ;" and in hun- 
dreds of instances has this pleasing hope 
been verified. To such means, indeed, in 
connexion with pious example, much of 
the great change discoverable in the moral 
and religious habits of the upper classes of 
society is attributed. The circulation of 
tracts has also been followed by similar 
results. The various publications of the 
Religious Tract Society, being very widely 
disseminated throughout the island, proved 
instrumental in exciting a thirst for reli- 
gious knowledge, and contributed to the 
more general diffusion of divine truth, not 
only among the negroes, but aiso in many 
instances among the white population. 
During the last few years it was no un- 
common occurrence for individuals of the 
first respectability to send for tracts by 
their servants, regarding their bestowment 
as a favour, and expressing the pleasure 
and profit their perusal afforded. Fre- 
quently, indeed, have those who but a few 
years since would have regarded these 
silent messengers with disgust and aver- 
sion expressed their obligation for the sup- 
plies with which they had been furnished. 
At some of the stations from 10,000 to 
12,000 tracts were circulated annually, 
some of which found their way into every 
house, both small and great, throughout 
the district. Every missionary-station was 
in reality, besides an educational establish- 
ment, a Bible and tract depot, whence rays 
of light continually emanated to all the 
surrounding neighourhood, producing re- 
sults, the full magnitude and importance 
of which only the day of final decision will 
fully disclose. 

The moral influence exerted by themz's- 
sionaries powerfully contributed to the 
change which has taken place. In so de- 
praved a community as that of Jamaica 
the very presence of such a person was 
productive of an amount of good which 
can scarcely be estimated. It awakened 
many a virtuous youthful association — 
made many an appeal to the conscience, 
and excited many a feeling of self-convic- 
tion and self-reproach. To the missionary 



it was that the negro uniformly looked 
with confidence for sympathy and redress; 
while, on the other hand, the master feared 
that by the same agency his deeds of dark- 
ness would be known and exposed to the 
world. " You have no missionary here to 
listen to your complaints, or to take your 
part," was an observation frequently ad- 
dressed to the slave when his task-master 
wished to perpetrate some deed of cruelty 
and wrong. 

Being wholly independent of local in- 
fluence, the missionaries were almost the 
only individuals on the island who dared 
interfere between the oppressor and the 
oppressed. Yet in no one instance did 
they thus interfere, until compelled by the 
increasing efforts made to frustrate the 
objects of their mission. When they saw 
the members of their churches punished 
for praying to their Maker — when they 
beheld that accursed system, under which 
the island groaned, aiming to quench the 
light of heaven, to close the avenues to 
the tree of life, and to consign its helpless 
victims, not only to degradation and misery 
in this world, but to everlasting torment in 
another — then, and not till then, did they 
feel their obligation to attempt its utter 
extinction, and resolve never to relax in 
their efforts until their object was accom- 
plished. 

Though from the first they had regard- 
ed it as their bounden duty to inculcate 
upon the victims of misrule and oppression, 
obedience to the civil authorities, and pa- 
tient submission to their nameless wrongs, 
yet now impelled by justice, humanity, and 
religion, they fearlessly published to the 
world the atrocities they had witnessed, and 
thus supplied the material by which the 
philanthropists of Britain were enabled to 
move the nation in their favour. 

As an act of revenge, and as a means 
of avoiding that crisis which they believed 
to beat hand, and to which these exposures 
had mainly contributed, the colonists per- 
petrated the outrages of 1832, but 

"Quern Deus vult perdere prius dementat:" 

and never was this maxim more fully veri- 
fied : never did " He who sitteth in the 
heavens" more signally cause the " wrath 
of man to praise Him." The very means 
by which these infatuated men hoped to 
secure the perpetuity of their system prov- 
ed the cause of its destruction. This was 



ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 



157 



the turning point of that mighty struggle, 
the issue of which had so long been doubt- 
ful. No sooner did it become a question 
whether light or darkness was to prevail 
— whether God or Satan should be supreme 
— no sooner was it clearly seen that the 
cause of negro emancipation was the cause 
of Christian missions — than sympathies 
were awakened and energies called forth, 
before which even slavery itself fell pros- 
trate, reluctantly compelled to acknowledge 
the omnipotence of Him who, at no distant 
period, and in every land, shall cast away 
its cords, and break its bands asunder. 

But for the destruction of the houses of 
God, and the attempts made upon the lives, 
and liberty of the ministers of Christ, 
slavery, unless it had excited the negroes 
to massacre the whole of the white popula- 
tion, would in all probability have con- 
tinued to the present hour ; although it 
must have yielded ultimately to the light 
and influence of missionary effort. 

Thus it may be said that the moment the 
missionaries arrived on the shores where 
slavery and its effects existed, did that 
process commence which infallibly led to 
its utter extinction, and is now tending to 
the moral and social regeneration of the. 
country. 

Of their influence in this respect, the 
pro-slavery party were themselves aware. 
" Education and religion," said a slave- 
holder to the author, " will make the ne- 
groes better men, but they will not make 
them better slaves." 

" It is most unfortunate," says one of 
the government papers of the day, the great 
organ and advocate of slave-holders, " for 
the cause of the planters that they did not 
speak out in time. That they did not say, 
as they ought to have said, to the first ad- 
vocates of missions and education, ' We 
will not tolerate your plans till you prove 
to us they are safe and necessary ; we will 
not suffer you to enlighten our slaves, who 
are by law our property, till you can de- 
monstrate that, when they are made reli- 
gious and knowing, they will still continue 
to be our slaves. 

" In what a perplexing predicament do 
the colonial proprietors now stand ! Can 
the march of events be possibly arrested ? 
Shall they be allowed to shut up thechapels, 
and banish the preachers and school-mas- 
ters, and keep the slaves in ignorance? 
This would, indeed, bean effectual remedy. 



But there is no hope of its being applied. 
The obvious conclusion is this — slavery 
must exist as it now is, or it will not exist 
at all. If we expect to create a community 
of reading, moral, church-going slaves, we 
are wofully mistaken."* 

This shameful demolition of the sanctu- 
aries of the Most High, and treatment of 
the missionaries, in the providence of God 
was made subservient to other important 
purposes. Missionary societies became 
better known to the higher classes of the 
community, and more appreciated by its 
apathetic friends. The stream of Christian 
liberality flowed through a thousand new 
and previously unproductive channels — the 
societies more especially interested in it 
were animated with more wisdom in coun- 
cil, more energy in action, and more fer- 
vour in prayer — the sympathies of the 
whole Christian world were aroused — 
chapels were erected double the size of 
those that had been demolished — the means 
of usefulness were greatly multiplied and 
increased, and thousands were added to 
the church. 

It was chiefly by the strenuous and per- 
severing efforts of the missionaries also 
that the temporal condition of the people 
was improved. 

Since the period of emancipation, repeat- 
ed efforts were made to lessen the value of 
the boon, by oppressing the peasantry in 
their wages, and by the enactment of 
equivocal and oppressive laws. These at- 
tempts having been rendered abortive by 
the zeal and vigilance of the missionaries, 
contributed in no small degree to strengthen 
and consolidate that hold on their affections 
which they previously possessed. 

It was to defeat the exactions of avarice, 
which hoped to accomplish its object by 
extorting labour at an unremunerating 
price, that the missionaries projected and 
carried into effect the new village syste?n. 
This system, by creating a feeling of 
mutual dependence, encouraging indus- 
trious habits, and increasing the cultiva- 
tion of the island, not only added to its ge- 
neral prosperity, but rendered labour more 
available for the properties near which 
such settlements were located — an advan- 
tage which many influential proprietors 
and managers have already acknowledged. 

The land required for the formation of 



Quoted in the 'Martyr of Erromanga, p. 19. 



158 



JAMAICA: 



these village establishments had, in most 
cases, been first purchased by the mission- 
aries, who also surveyed and laid out the 
allotments, superintended the construction 
of the roads and streets, directed the settlers 
in the building of their cottages, and culti- 
vation of their grounds, supplied them with 
their deeds of conveyance, formed societies 
among them for the improvement of agri- 
cultural operations, gave them a relish for 
the comfort and conveniences of civilized 
life, and improved their domestic economy. 
They endeavoured at the same time, by 
every means in their power, to convince 
these simple-minded people that their own 
prosperity, as well as that of the island at 
large, depended on their willingness to 
work for moderate wages, on the different 
properties around them. 

In these labours, surrounded by difficul- 
ties, assailed by misrepresentation and re- 
proach, weighed down by cares and respon- 
sibilities of no ordinary kind, the mission- 
aries have steadfastly persevered, producing 
results which have already excited the 
astonishment and admiration of every con- 
scientious and disinterested man ; and 
which will at no distant period be duly ap- 
preciated and greatfully acknowledged, 
even by those who under the influence of 
pride or prejudice then most liberally stig- 
matized them as " enemies of the country." 

In all their efforts for the improvement 
of the temporal condition of the people the 
missionaries endeavoured to evince the 
purity of their motives. In numberless 
instances they prevented the occurrence of 
insubordination. By doing justice to all 
parties they settled differences which might 
otherwise have been productive of the most 
serious consequences. At considerable 
personal inconvenience and risk of health, 
with the certainty of being requited by 
calumny and misrepresentation, they tra- 
velled from one estate to another, for no 
other purpose than to stimulate the pea- 
santry to cultivate feelings of kindness and 
goodwill towards their employers, and to 
exemplify their Christian character by a 
steady and conscientious performance of 
their duties, whatever the circumstances 
in which they might be placed. 

It is the most solemn conviction of the 
writer that they could not have acted with 
more singleness of aim, with more patriotic 
feeling, or with a greater regard to the 
general interest of the colony, had their 



ow#happiness, both for time and eternity, 
been suspended on the result. 

Nor was the system of organization 
adopted by the Jamaica churches inefficient 
in promoting the success of missionary 
efforts ; on the contrary, it was powerfully 
conducive to this important result. In the 
words of an eloquent writer, this system 
may described as a " combination of the 
influence of the church acting with resolute 
energy on a given principle, by given 
means, to a given end." 

The characteristics of this organization 
are union, division of labour, and classi- 
fication, combined with the most vigilant 
pastoral direction and supervision. " Its 
tendency is to correct indifference, to en- 
courage zeal, to nurture talent, to promote 
union, to insure increase."* 

The churches being divided into classes, 
which are superintended by qualified lead- 
ers, each member well acquainted with 
his duty, and inspired with a holy ambition 
to excel his brother in performing it ; every 
such society presents a well-disciplined 
moral phalanx, combined for the especial 
purpose of making aggressive movements 
on the kingdom of darkness around them 
— a centre, from which light emanated to 
an expanding circumference — a nucleus, 
from which other churches radiated. Like 
the celebrated Banian-tree of India, so 
happily described by our great epic poet : 

" Spreading her arms 
Branching so broad and long, that in the ground 
The bending twigs take root, and daughters grow 
About the mother tree, a pillar'd shade 
High over-arch'd, and echoing walks between." 

" It corresponded to the manner in 
which extensive tracts of territory were 
originally peopled by small settlements 
swelling into large communities. It was 
in some respects analogous in principle to 
the conduct of the apostles themselves, 
who, hastening from one country to ano- 
ther, planted the Gospel in a short time in 
many remote points, by which they at 
once multiplied the probabilities of its sur- 
viving, and afforded fuller scope for its be- 
ing more extensively diffused." 

By the operations of this system each 
individual was led to consider himself a 
necessary part of the great machine. In- 
stead of regarding himself as a mere at- 
tendant, he felt that he had important du- 
ties to discharge ; duties which, as they in- 

* Burton. 



ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 



159 



volved no small sacrifice of time, labour, 
and property, identified his own interest 
and happiness with the success of his ex- 
ertions, while in a corresponding degree 
they stimulated his activity and devoted- 
ness. 

On the tendency of this system of orga- 
nization it is scarcely necessary to make 
an additional remark. This must be ob- 
vious ; it increased the number of hearers 
and inquirers in proportion to the number 
and efficiency of the agents employed. As 
every one capable of exerting himself was 
included, a church and congregation, con- 
sisting of five thousand persons, possessed 
nearly the same number of Home Mis- 
sionary agents who either directly or indi- 
rectly were habitually employed in promot- 
ing its piety and increasing its extent. 
Such a manifestation of active diligence 
and lively zeal On the part of the people 
naturally excited corresponding feelings in 
the breast of the minister ; thus exerting 
an influence as universal as it was power- 
ful and efficacious ; altogether producing 
results surpassing the belief of those op- 
posed to the system, or who judge of con- 
versions by past occurrences. It was by 
this agency that new stations were usually 
originated. The services of the minister 
were seldom invited until a congregation 
had first been collected. He was required 
merely to preach and to take the oversight 
of the people. His active pioneers regard- 
ed it as their duty to secure the attendance 
of those to whom his attention was to be 
directed — a duty which was generally per- 
formed in a manner which more favoured 
Christians would do well to imitate. 

The frequent social meetings connected 
with this system were important means of 
mutual encouragement and edification. 
They "exhorted one another daily while 
it was called to-day ; edified one another, 
spoke to one another in psalms and hymns 
and spiritual songs; warned the unruly, 
comforted the feeble-minded ; assembled 
themselves together, and provoked one 
another to love and to good works ;" and 
thus " grew in grace and in the know- 
ledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus 
Christ." 

Nor was this system less useful and im- 
portant in promoting that spirit of love and 
union which is in most cases so delightfully 
apparent. It is natural for a young: con- 



vert to feel a strong attachment to the in- 



strument of his conversion. Especially is 
it thus with the negro, whose affections are 
so proverbially strong; and as all, in a 
greater or less degree, were rendered use- 
ful to each other, there was thus engen- 
dered amongst them a union of feeling and 
of effort which no other could possibly 
have produced. " Not in word only, but 
in deed and in truth" do they constitute one 
family; they are all " the children of God 
by faith." Bound closely to each other 
by mutual knowledge, intercourse, and 
love, " there is neither Jew nor Greek, 
there is neither male nor female, there is 
neither bond nor free, but all are one in 
Christ Jesus." This organization also se- 
cured to every missionary by whom it has 
been adopted the most valuable assistance 
in the discharge of his pastoral duties. 
These agents instructed inquirers, visited 
the sick, sought after backsliders, superin- 
tended funerals, and reported cases of po- 
verty and distress throughout their respec- 
tive districts. Not only did they share the 
duties, but in some respects the responsibi- 
lities, of the pastor. To a certain extent 
each individual believer regarded himself 
as responsible for the interest and honour 
of religion in the community to which he 
belonged. In consequence of this he not 
only exerted himself to the utmost, but was 
elevated or depressed as Zion prospered 
or declined; in proportion as his fellow 
Christians adorned or dishonoured their 
profession. As an electric shock runs 
through every part of the chain, so every 
thing that affected the welfare and prospe- 
rity of the church affected in an equal de- 
gree every member of which that church 
was composed. 

This system had a most direct and ob- 
vious tendency to promote and secure the 
purity of the churches. Each member be- 
ing taught to regard himself as his " bro- 
ther's keeper," not only did it induce 
greater personal watchfulness and circum- 
spection, but many inconsistencies were 
thereby prevented, while every case of de- 
linquency was speedily known and pub- 
lished to the church. 

It would occupy too much space to enu- 
merate all the advantages arising from the 
peculiar organization of the Jamaica 
churches ; it may, however, be remarked, 
that the missionaries by whom it has been 
adopted are indebted to it, under God, not 
simply for the continuance, but for the 



160 



JAMAICA : 



commencement, of their success. In their 
incipient operations in the rural districts 
there was no other method by which a 
knowledge of divine truth could have been 
diffused to an equal extent. The mis- 
sionary, surrounded by influential indivi- 
duals, as proprietors or managers of es- 
tates, who were not merely hostile to his 
object but who endeavoured, by penal 
enactments, to prevent any access to the 
labourers on the different properties, found 
himself placed in a situation in which he 
could anticipate but little good from his di- 
rect and personal exertions. Hence, no 
sooner was one of the slaves brought to a 
knowledge of the truth, than he was em- 
ployed to bear the glad tidings to others ; 
and this as a matter of necessity, because 
no other medium so available existed. It 
was by this means that attention was at 
first excited, congregations collected, a 
spirit of hearing widely diffused, and mul- 
titudes savingly converted to God. 

Many years ago it was estimated by a 
Jay gentleman then resident in Jamaica, 
who urged it as an argument for mission- 
aries to be sent thither, that there were 
from eight to ten thousand persons on the 
island professedly belonging to the Baptist 
denomination alone. Nearly the whole of 
these were the fruit of lay agency, and af- 
forded a proof of what might be anticipated 
by the employment of the same means un- 
der a more direct and skilful superinten- 
dence. 

In every church this agency was super- 
intended by the minister. He was "the 
centre of the system, planning, improving 
and directing all its movements," while in 
every instance its results have been such 
as to fill his heart with gratitude, and load 
his tongue with praises. Like the stream- 
let, which first betrays its silent course by 
the verdure that adorns its banks, and by 
the accession of tributary waters, receives 
an impulse which widens and deepens as 
it flows; so in every church thus orga- 
nized did each unit of which it was com- 
posed become an element of influence, con- 
tributing to the increase, strength, and 
prosperity of the whole. 

Like all human plans and institutions 
this system has doubtless been abused, 
though by no means to such an extent as 
has been represented.* The evils that 

* Among other evils resulting from the system, it 
has been stated that it tends to diminish esteem for < 



may have been found connected with it 
have arisen not from the system itself, but 
from the imperfect manner in vjhich its 
tendencies were developed. For many 
years, and especially during the days of 
slavery, such were the circumstances in 
which the missionaries were placed, and 
so hostile the influences by which they 
were surrounded, that it was utterly im- 
possible for them to obtain such an effi- 
cient agency as they subsequently possess- 
ed, or to exercise over it such a direct and 
vigilant superintendence as they are ena- 
bled to do at the present time. If, there- 
fore, the system has not yet accomplished 
all that it is able to effect, it is to these 
causes, and to these alone, that the defi- 
ciency is to be ascribed. And such is the 
writer's conviction of its intrinsic worth 
that he hesitates not to affirm, that if all 
the evils alleged to be connected with it 
were collected into a mass, they would 
prove but as the "small dust of the ba- 
lance," when compared with the vast and 
ever-increasing amount of good which has 
resulted from its adoption.* Let it be but 
fully carried out with " all diligence" and 
in a spirit of faith and prayer, and there 
can be little doubt but that " God, even 
our own God, will bless us," and the pe- 
riod be hastened when "all the ends of 
the earth shall fear him." 

Greatly is the whole Christian world 
indebted to the Rev. Dr. Campbell, who 
in his celebrated prize essay, entitled 
" Jethro," has so nobly defended the sys- 
tem of lay agency, and so ably illustrated 
the advantages which would result from its 
general adoption. It cannot but be highly 
gratifying to know that other missionary 



the pastor, and to promote divisions in churches. 
The whole of the author's experience is not only 
against such a conclusion, but in every instance 
which has come under his observation the effect has 
been directly the reverse. In no part of the world 
are ministers more beloved or respected than in Ja- 
maica, neither are there any churches which enjoy 
greater peace and harmony. In one church, compri- 
sing upwards of three thousand members, there has 
been but one instance in which a lay agent has taken 
any improper advantage of the confidence reposed in 
him, and in which there has been the slightest inter- 
ruption to the most perfect concord, during a period 
of twenty years — a fact which (though by no means a 
singular one) will doubtless have its due weight with 
the reader. 

* " I have often wished to see something like the 
Methodist class-meetings amongst us in India," snid 
the late excellent Mr. Ward of Serampore, in his 
Farewell Letters. "No professors on earth need 
meetings like these so much as men recently brought 
from heathenism." — Letters, p. 244. 



ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 



161 



societies, as well as our own, have not 
only adopted the same principle, but have 
been favoured with the same success. 
After speaking of the success which has 
thus attended the labours of the Moravian 
and Wesleyan Societies, Dr. Campbell ob- 
serves, " the London Missionary Society, 
though last, is not least, in this bright roll; 
they have much to record on the subject. 
The history of their achievements in the 
South Seas is one unbroken narrative of 
the successful efforts of laymen in uproot- 
ing idolatry and turning multitudes to God. 
The secretary of the Society (Rev. W. 
Ellis) declares, that ' the islanders have 
shown the great principle of the Gospel to 
be one of self-propagation, and the spirit it 
implants to be one of self-consecration. 
No sooner did they themselves understand 
the Gospel, and feel its power in their own 
hearts, than the prayer was offered up that 
God would graciously have compassion 
on the ignorant around ; and efforts were 
made for the purpose of communicating to 
them that knowledge which they them- 
selves possessed. God has eminently ho- 
noured the native Christians as the means 
of diffusing the Gospel far and wide 
amongst the nations of the Pacific' 

" That great missionary, John Williams, 
corroborates Ellis, and says, ' I do not 
know that the inhabitants of any island, 
with the exception of those of Tahiti, have 
been converted to Christianity by the in- 
strumentality of English missionaries; the 
work has been done by native missiona- 
ries. Of course, they are conveyed by us, 
and are under our direction and superin- 
tendence; but they are the men that do 
the work ; and, therefore, it is of the utmost 
importance that this agency, which God 
has put into our hands, should be carried 
on in the most judicious, the most effec- 
tive, and the most extensive way in which 
it is possible to conduct it.' # 

"These remarkable testimonies (adds the 
devoted author) to the uniform efficiency 
and stupendous effects of lay agency in 
the South Seas, constitute illustrations of 
our principle, which it is hardly possible 
to surpass. "f 



* Jethro, pp. 104, 105. 

t " As soon as the chapel was completed at Raro- 
tonga,"says the eloquent biographer of Mr. Williams, 
" Messrs. Williams and Pitman distributed the bap- 
tized, and those who were candidates for baptism, 
into twenty-three classes, each containing from twen- 



[f the churches of Britain could but be 
persuaded to lay aside their prejudices and 
to adopt the same system, how many evils 
would be prevented ; how would their 
numbers increase ; and how much greater 
would be their moral influence and general 
prosperity ! What Christian pastor feels 
not the force of Jethro's stirring exhor- 
tation : " O brethren ! bestir yourselves ! 
Turn your whole souls towards the prepa- 
ration and arrangement of lay agency. 
Clothe yourselves with the united power of 
your people; unite them; classify them. 
Let them be as one well-compacted body, 
of which you are the soul. Men of God ! 
animate, arouse, inspire the people! Put 
in motion the entire mass. Let every 
church become a spiritual camp, where 
every man is a soldier; and where all, 
even the children, know the use of arms ! 
Then will the war of truth be prosecuted 
in the spirit of its origin ; and our beloved 
land shall yet be filled with tokens of a 
Saviour's presence, and overspread with 
the triumphs of a Saviour's power!"* 

It has been previously stated that the 
churches of Jamaica are distinguished by 
a spirit of frequent, fervent, and persever- 
ing prayer. Like the first Christians, 
" they continue with one accord in prayer 
and supplication," while their numerously 
attended meetings for this purpose, the 
deep and intense feeling which pervades 
them, the impassioned earnestness with 
which they pour forth their desires unto 
God, sufficiently attest, not only the ardour, 
but the sincerity of their devotion. 

And how much this spirit of prayer has 
contributed to the increase and prosperity 
of the churches is known only unto Him 
who has said, " If two of you shall agree 
on earth as touching any thing that they 
shall ask, it shall be done for them of my 
Father which is in heaven."f If it be true 



ty-three to twenty-eight households. Two of the most 
serious and intelligent natives were appointed over 
each class, to secure a regular attendance upon the 
catechetical instructions of the missionaries." — Life 
of Rev. J. Williams, p. 248. Again, in p. 396, it is 
said, relating to the same island, " This incipient re- 
vival was the more interesting to Mr. Williams, be- 
cause it could be traced to the instrumentality of the 
few disciples who had so recently professed their faith 
in Christ, When formed into a church, these con- 
verted natives had been distinctly told by their mis- 
sionaries, that to sow as well as to reap, to labour as 
well as to enjoy, were among the primary and princi- 
pal designs of their association. And these counsels 
were not lost." 
* Jethro, p. 394, t Matt, xviii. 19. 



162 



JAMAICA: 



that " he who has the ear of God has the 
heart of God ;" that " prayer moves the 
hand that moves the world ;" who can 
wonder that copious showers of blessings 
should descend upon a people who thus, 
in congregated thousands, bend before the 
throne of mercy, " praying with all prayer 
and supplication in the spirit," not only for 
themselves, but for the perishing multitudes 
around them? By prayer have the mis- 
sionaries been defended in times of danger, 
sustained and cheered when "sorrow hath 
filled their hearts." By prayer have sin- 
ners been awakened, the desponding com- 
forted, believers "edified and built up in 
their most holy faith," while around them 
the " word of the Lord has had free course, 
and been glorified." Let but this spirit of 
prayer continue, and we shall not fear for 
the continued prosperity of our churches. 
Let it subside, and from that sad moment 
" Ichabod" will be written upon the walls 
and portals of our sanctuaries. 

" Prayer, ardent, opens heaven, lets down a stream 
Of glory on the consecrated hour 
Of man, in audience with the Deity; 
Who worships the great God, that moment joins 
The first in heaven, and sets his foot on hell." 

Whatever may have been the separate 
or combined influence of the causes hith- 
erto enumerated in producing the glorious 
transformation described in the preceding 
pages, they would have been comparatively 
useless apart from the Gospel which " is 
the power of God unto salvation." The 
abolition of the slave-trade; the destruc- 
tion of slavery itself; the establishment of 
schools ; and the various efforts which 
have been made for the improvement of 
the temporal condition of the people, would 
have effected but little, had it not been for 
this more powerful instrumentality and this 
still more effective agency. 

Of this we have an illustration in the 
case of Hayti. Though its inhabitants 
have long been free — though some schools 
have been established, and civilization has 
in some degree advanced — though the arts 
and sciences, the manners and customs of 
Europe have been introduced, yet but little 
improvement has taken place in their moral 
and social state. They remain almost as 
motionless, indeed, in this respect as if they 
floated on the surface of a stagnant pool — 
present nearly the same changeless aspect 
of intellectual and social condition as they 
did before they emancipated themselves 



from the thraldom of the French. Com- 
pared with the happy and prosperous cir- 
cumstances of the Jamaica peasantry, the 
Haytians are still involved in ignorance, 
misery, and guilt — darkness covers this 
part of the earth, and gross darkness the 
minds of its people.* 

The history of missions proves most 
conclusively that the Gospel is the only 
instrument of moral and spiritual renova- 
tion : — that this, and this alone, is " mighty, 
through God, to the pulling down the strong- 
holds" which the Prince of Darkness has 
erected. In Jamaica this Gospel has been 
preached freely, fully, and with great sim- 
plicity — to a considerable degree in the 
paraphrastic and metaphoric styles' — the 
preacher dwelling chiefly on its first prin- 
ciples, its most prominent doctrines and 
duties, enforced by direct and powerful ap- 
peals to the heart and conscience. 

It has also been preached faithfully. 
Having secured the confidence and affec- 
tions of the people, the missionary felt that 
he could lay open their defects, expose 
their sins, and exhort them to consistency, 
without the slighest apprehension of giving 
offence or incurring the charge of person- 
ality. On the contrary, he found that he 
was beloved and honoured in proportion to 
his fidelity, not only in preaching, but in 
guarding the purity and preserving the 
discipline of the church. The observa- 
tion was frequently made, " Him is good 
minister ; him don't no child ; him tell we 
plain; him know neger heart well. If we 
no go right, it we own fault ; minister 
clean from we blood." 

The Gospel was preached practically, 
being uniformly made to bear upon the im- 

* " The poet Goldsmith," says Mr. Candler, " in 
describing the peasantry of Switzerland, has too cor- 
rectly, and with much greater truth, described the 
condition of the people of Hayti: — 

' Unknown to them, when sensual pleasures cloy, 
To fill the languid pause with finer joy : 
Unknown those powers that raise the soul to flame, 
Catch every nerve, and vibrate through the frame. 
Their level life is but a smouldering fire, 
Unquench'd by want, unfann'd by strong desire; 
Unfit for raptures; for, if raptures cheer 
On some high festival of once a year, 
In wild excess the vulgar breast takes fire, 
Till, buried in debauch, the bliss expire. 
But not their joys alone thus coarsely flow ; 
Their morals, like their pleasures, are but low ; 
For, as refinement stops, from sire to son, 
Unalter'd, unimproved, the manners run; 
And love and friendship's finely-pointed dart 
Falls blunted from each indura"ted heart.' " 

The Traveller. 



ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 



163 



portance of bringing forth the " fruits of 
holiness which are to the praise and glory 
of God." While the missionary endeavour- 
ed to " give to all a portion of meat in due 
season," his grand aim was the increase of 
converts, and in this he always calculated 
with confidence upon the sympathies of his 
people, who estimated the value of a ser- 
mon by its awakening tendency, and the 
talents of a preacher by his success in 
storming the citadel of the passions. Hav- 
ing themselves been made partakers of the 
grace of God, their chief anxiety was that 
their neighbours and friends might become 
participants of the blessings which they 
enjoyed. It was frequently said, and the 
language describes the general feeling, 
" Minister show we de right way, and tell 
we where we can get comfort. Now we 
want minister to keep on preach, to bring 
in more sinner. If minister give we little 
comfort sometime, dat will do; we will 
try and comfort weself." 

Accompanied by the promised influence 
of the Holy Spirit, this " manifestation of 
the truth" has been productive not only of 
its own legitimate effects in the awakening 
and conversion of sinners, but, by increas- 
ing the efficiency of other instrumentality, 
it has in the highest sense caused " the 
wilderness and the solitary place to be 
made glad, and the desert to rejoice and 
blossom as the rose." Humbly and de- 
voutly would the writer recognise divine 
influence as absolutely essential to all 
moral and spiritual renovation. " Neither 
is he that planteth any thing, neither he 
that watereth, but God that giveth the in- 
crease." " Not by might, nor by power, 
but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of Hosts." 
Without this omnipotent agency the labours 
of the missionaries would have fallen to 
the ground. What else could have pro- 
duced such mighty changes as have been 
detailed 1 What inferior power could have 
softened what was obdurate as the rock, 
and fixed that which was inconstant as 
the wind? What else could have influ- 
enced the poor African slave, accustomed 
from his youth to superstition and idolatry, 
to rioting and mirth, to licentious indul- 
gence and secret abominations, to cast off 
the works of darkness — to surrender his 
beloved lusts — to " live soberly, righteous- 
ly, and godly," " counting all things but 
'loss that he might win Christ, and be found 
in him V What but the enlightening, 



softening, converting Almighty operation 
of the Spirit of God 1 It is this which has 
excited attention — aroused the dormant 
faculties — subdued and overcome the 
" bondage of corruption," and caused 
those hearts which were once barren of all 
good, and prolific only of evil, to bring 
forth in rich abundance the fruits of holi- 
ness, happiness, and heaven. " Every 
spot on the surface of the globe that is en- 
lightened — every waste place that is re- 
claimed — every idol that is renounced — 
every heart that is renewed — every ingre- 
dient that is shed into the cup of human 
enjoyment — is a new and striking evidence 
of the power and operation of the Spirit of 
the Lord of Hosts" — is wholly the tri- 
umph of Christianity. " Not unto us, O 
Lord : not unto us, but unto thy name be 
the glory, for thy mercy and for thy 
truth's sake." 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

INCREASED CLAIM OF MISSIONARY SOCIE- 
TIES, ESPECIALLY ON THE SYMPATHIES 
AND BENEVOLENCE OF THE CHRISTIAN 
WORLD. 

Magnitude of the Objects — Past Success — Condition 
of Africa, St. Domingo, and other neighbouring 
Islands; South America — Increased Facilities 
which these Fields of Labour afford — Sympathies 
manifested by the Churches in Jamaica — Demand 
for these Objects on the Christian Public — Sinful- 
ness of Neutrality in such a case — Motives — Way 
in which this Cause is to be especially promoted. 

There is nothing in the whole compass 
of human enterprise that can for a mo- 
ment be compared in magnitude with 
Christian missions. Smiling on every de- 
sign which contemplates in any way the 
improvement of the human race, it is their 
distinguishing glory that their energies 
are directed primarily to the promotion of 
the dearest interests of man; that while 
they do not overlook the fleeling circum- 
stances of time, they have emphatically to 
do with the infinitely more weighty con- 
siderations of eternity. Stretching far be- 
yond the narrower limits within which re- 
ligious benevolence has been wont to con- 
fine itself, these noble institutions embrace 
all nations, aim, with a godlike generosity, 
to remove every badge of degradation and 
disgrace from a prostrate and enslaved 



164 



JAMAICA 



world, and to raise the vast and ever-mul- 
tiplying family of man to holiness, happi- 
ness, and God. What is there in the 
whole range of human ambition that does 
not vanish before the majesty of such a 
design? The dazzling splendours of roy- 
alty, the flattering conquests of the hero, 
or even the beautiful researches of the phi- 
losopher, sink into utter insignificance be- 
fore it, while 'philanthropy itself is con- 
strained to acknowledge the supremacy of 
an enterprise which seizes with so strong a 
grasp both upon the present interests and 
future destinies of men. 

A purpose so completely in unison with 
the perfections of Jehovah, and in such 
vital sympathy with the spirit of his word, 
especially with the Gospel of his grace, 
could but commend itself to the approval, 
and attract the blessing, of the skies. The 
genius of Christian missions is divine in 
its origin, and has therefore enjoyed the 
fostering care of its Father who is in 
heaven. The degree of success, moreover, 
which it has pleased the Great Head of 
the Church to vouchsafe to his servants 
has exceeded the bounds of rational ex- 
pectation. A thoughtful survey of the vast- 
ness of the work, and of the prodigious 
difficulties with which it was crowded, 
could not fail to moderate the anticipations 
of every reflecting breast. Whatever 
might have been the dreams of some san- 
guine and superficial minds, the great body 
of the Christian church must have enter- 
tained subdued hopes, and sometimes have 
felt the predominance of overshadowing 
fears. It was in this spirit, as has been 
before intimated, some of the more dis- 
tinguished labourers in this mighty design 
entered on their work. After a suitable 
trial of the faith and patience of His peo- 
ple, the Lord of the harvest appeared, and 
condescended to bless their efforts in so 
signal a manner as to awaken mingled as- 
tonishment and joy. In a comparatively 
short period, in the interesting island of 
Jamaica — one corner of the great mission- 
ary field — 200,000 souls who were sitting 
in darkness and in the shadow of death 
were savingly converted to God, and 
emerged into the radiance of the Sun of 
Righteousness. Let it be borne in mind 
that this blessed army have not merely 
been brought into the enjoyment of the 
outward privileges of the Christian religion, 
have, in the judgment of charity, been 



" renewed in the spirit of their minds, and 
become the genuine disciples of Him, after 
whom the whole family in heaven and 
earth is named." " Who are these that fly 
as a cloud and as doves to their windows?" 
Nor is the blessing of God confined to one 
scene of missionary exertion ; it attends 
his servants wherever they go. In other 
parts of the western archipelago the seed 
of the kingdom is abundantly springing 
up ; the icy regions of the north are glad- 
dened by the genial influence of " the 
truth ;" the islands of the southern sea 
have received His law; the mighty super- 
stitions of India are tottering before the 
presence of the cross, while in Burmah, 
and even in China, with its teeming mil- 
lions, the deathlike silence which has 
reigned for ages is disturbed by the foot- 
steps of Him who, as he advances, creates 
all things new; the enemy has already 
been driven from some of those strong- 
holds which once were deemed impreg- 
nable, and many a field of arduous con- 
flict is now strewed with the weapons of 
opposition and the emblems of success. 
Had the attempts of faithful men to invade 
the territory of the Prince of Darkness, 
and to spoil him of his prey, been appa- 
rently useless, it would be, nevertheless, 
an indication of cowardice, and dereliction 
of duty, to retire from the conflict ; but 
with what cheerful energy and quenchless 
devotion does it become the Christian 
church to address itself to a work which 
God has condescended so signally to own 
and bless! 

Encouraging as are the positive results 
which have already followed from Chris- 
tian missions, little comparatively has been 
effected. It becomes us to bear steadily in 
mind that the sublime work is only begun ; 
that but partial inroads have been made on 
any part of the enemy's dominions, while 
there remains a vast amount of territory 
hitherto unvisited and undisturbed. Surely, 
notwithstanding every indication of success, 
it must be felt that we have but just entered 
on the field, while eight hundred millions 
of our fellow-men remain involved in super- 
stition, misery, and guilt, thousands of 
whom are daily passing the boundaries of 
time, with no eye to pity and no hand to 
save. 

The map of the world spread out beneath 
the eye of the Christian philanthropist pre- 
sents an appalling region of moral desola- 



ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 



165 



tion. What unrelenting tyranny of error ! 
What horrid and disgusting scenes of im- 
posture ! Every devout heart must thrill 
with agonizing emotions, and every en- 
lightened imagination recoil, overshadowed 
with gloom, from a scene throughout which 
death reigns with such unlimited sway. 
China is enthral led and bowed down by a gro- 
velling and debasing superstition. Persia, 
Arabia, and Asiatic Turkey groan beneath 
the dominion of the false prophet. The 
teeming myriads of Hindostan are still 
wedded to loathsome idols. Africa lies 
involved in a darkness as profound as that 
which veiled Egypt during the prolonged 
and fearful night, when no man knew his 
brother. " Instruments of cruelty are in 
her habitations ;" her dismal altars are at 
this moment streaming with human blood, 
and groaning beneath the weight of mur- 
dered victims, while her strength is con- 
sumed by intestine wars and merciless op- 
pression. " Awake, awake, put on thy 
strength, oh Zion !" 

Throughout these mighty portions of 
the globe, this darkness and wretchedness 
prevail, relieved only by a few scattered 
rays which have been kindled by mission- 
ary zeal. Nor in crossing the broad ex- 
panse of waters to the islands of the west 
do we meet with any material improve- 
ment in the scene. Here and there, it is 
true, the gloom is irradiated by the light of 
Christian truth, but it is only as the morn- 
ing star to the benighted traveller, when he 
first beholds it emerging from the thick 
shades that surrounded it, or but as the 
faint glimmering of the glowworm under the 
black canopy of night ; whilst throughout 
the confederated states of the Mexican 
Union — throughout, indeed, the whole ex- 
tent of South America, and no inconsidera- 
ble portion of the north of the new hemi- 
sphere, successive generations of rational 
beings are perishing for lack of the bread 
and the water of life. 

" They read no promise that inspires belief, 
They seek no God that pities their complaints ; 
They find no balm that gives the heart relief. 
They know no fountain when the spirit faints. 
O ! could I picture out the full effect 
Of that soul-withering power, Idolatry, 
I'd write a page which whoso dared to read, 
His eye, instead of tears, in crimson drops should 
bleed." 

And cannot this wretchedness be ex- 
pelled, and this vast howling wilderness be 
revived and beautified! Are there no 
means by which St. Domingo and other 



islands of the western world, still under 
the influence of the Prince of Darkness, 
can be aroused from their lethargy of sin? 
Are there no means by which they, with 
the out-stretched continent of South Ameri- 
ca, can be raised in the scale of nations, 
and brought into fellowship with the Father 
of their spirits? Are there no means of 
healing the distracted heart of Africa; 
of restoring her to liberty and light, to 
holiness and happiness? — Yes! By the 
" glorious Gospel of the blessed God" we 
can regenerate the world. 

The honour of Christ, which has been so 
essentially promoted by the aggressive 
efforts of his servants, is vitally identified 
with the increase of his subjects. It is 
scarcely possible to conceive of a heavier 
calamity than the annihilation of Christian 
missions. By such a catastrophe the 
dawning hopes of an expiring world would 
vanish, the strength of the church of God 
would decay, and the glory of the great 
Redeemer would suffer an eclipse. Unbe- 
lievers, emboldened in their rebellion, 
would reiterate the cry, " Where is the 
promise of his coming ?" and the god of 
this world would reascend his tottering 
throne. The same disastrous results would 
flow in their measure from any relaxation 
of effort. The cause admits of no in- 
glorious repose. The armies of the " Lord 
of Hosts" are committed to a grand strug- 
gle with principalities and powers, with 
spiritual wickedness in high places, with 
the rulers of the darkness of this world ; 
nor can they halt without involving them- 
selves in everlasting disgrace. 

The question, as to the reasonableness 
and probable results of the bold attack, 
which arose before they entered on the 
conflict, has been set at rest. It is no 
longer dubious whether the warfare shall 
commend itself to the divine approbation, 
and shall be carried on under the shield of 
omnipotent protection. The kingdom has 
already been partially given to the saints 
of the Most High. " He that is feeble has 
become as David ; and the house of David, 
as God and the angel of the Lord before 
them." The great Captain of salvation 
has tasted the earnest of his triumphs, and 
waits with divine solicitude for their com- 
pletion. A fearful responsibility rests upon 
his disciples, and magnificent achievements 
wait upon their fortitude and zeal. The 
example of their devoted ancesters is be- 



166 



JAMAICA: 



fore them. His angels, whom he " maketh 
as spirits, and his ministers as flames of 
fire," anxiously attend them ; and nothing 
remains but that they push their conquests 
on every side, put to rout the armies of the 
alien, and, animated with love to Christ 
and care for the souls of men, in the name 
of the Lord in every land lift up their ban- 
ners. 

In this glorious enterprise there is every 
thing to encourage our hope and to stimu- 
late our zeal. Increased facilities pre- 
sent themselves on every hand, and new 
spheres of labour are opening before 
the messengers of the Gospel of peace. 
Aware of their degradation, and perceiving 
the influence of Christianity as taught by 
the missionaries in Jamaica and other 
British islands around them, the inhabitants 
of Hayti have invited the servants of Christ 
to their shores, promising the utmost pro- 
tection to their persons and all possible 
facilities for their work. They are begin- 
ning to look upon missionary stations and 
schools as necessary to enable their beauti- 
ful island to occupy its proper place among 
the nations of the earth. The messengers 
of religion would meet with more respect 
and countenance from the authorities resi- 
dent there than from those in most other 
parts of the world. Deeply interested in 
the struggles of the philanthropists of 
England for the freedom of their brethren, 
they would vie with each other in expres- 
sions of kindness towards any missionaries 
who might visit their shores, since they are 
well aware that the invaluable boon of 
liberty, so lately conferred on thousands of 
their coloured brethren, is mainly to be 
ascribed to their exertions. Even here the 
ground has already been broken.* (The 



* It is but due on the part of the writer to state 
that during a visit at Cape Haytien, and its neighbour- 
hood, in January, 1842, nothing could exceed the 
kindness with which he was treated by the highest 
authorities and most respectable merchants of that 
soon after devoted city, to whom he was introduced. 
On authority of those individuals, chiefly, with whom 
he had considerable intercourse, he has made the 
above statements. As another result of the author's 
inquiries, he found that a Baptist church already ex- 
isted at Port-au-Prince, and in answer to a communi- 
cation inquiring into their condition and circum- 
stances, he received the following letter from some of 
its members on behalf of the whole : — 

"Port-au-Prince, May 15, 1842. 
" Iteverend and Dear Sir, 

"Your truly interesting and friendly letter came 
sale to hand, which afforded us satisfaction to learn 
that our brethren from afar had such sympathy with 
us as to offer us assistance after knowing our situa- 



Wesleyan Society has long had some in- 
valuable agents in Hayti, men whose quali- 
fications for the trying post they have had 
to occupy have never been surpassed.) 

Among other favourable occurrences the 
ports of Jamaica have been recently thrown 
open to Haytian commerce — an act of jus- 
tice that has inspired with grateful senti- 
ments some of the most influential citizens 
of the republic. " England has given 
another proof of her generous sympathy 
with Hayti, which is to us a matter of sin- 
cere rejoicing. It will tend to extend our 
commerce, consolidate our prosperity, re- 
fine our manners, establish our political 
education, bring us the greater blessings of 
Christianity ; and lastly, to honour and 
happiness."* 

Whilst Providence is yet more fully pre- 
paring the way before us in the islands of 
the West, vast continents are beckoning 
us to their coasts. Already "Ethiopia 
stretches out her hands unto God." In 
many of her towns and villages, and 
islands, the sun of Christianity has risen, 
while the spectral train of idolatry and 
superstition are vanishing before its rays. 
Useful knowledge, the blessings of civiliza- 
tion, and the arts of agriculture, follow in 
the train of the missionary wherever he 
goes ; and as he advances, " the wilder- 
ness rejoices, and the desert blossoms as 
the rose." 

The honoured agents of the London, 
the Wesleyan, the Church, and the Ameri- 
can Missionary Societies have already 

tion. We are without a pastor, and have been so for 

some time At present there is not more 

than a dozen of us that meet together, and that not 
regularly, for at present we have no house in par- 
ticular to hold our meetings in. About five years ago 
we had a missionary from the United.States, at which 
time we were in a very prosperous state, but he was 
called home. After this we sent a pious, worthy man 
from our own body to the United States, and the 
board of foreign missions ordained him. He returned 
and commenced his ministry, and was very prospe- 
rous, but it pleased the Lord to take him also to him- 
self, and we are now like sheep without a shepherd. 
We submit these few lines for your|consideration. — 
i. e„ to the wisdom of your body, — and beg you to 
dictate and give us such friendly advice as might be 
advantageous. What few there are of us are very 
poor. It in your wisdom you send a person to instruct 
us you will not be deceived respecting our situation. 
We add nothing more, but remain your brethren in 
the Lord, 

(Signed) Isaac Hill, 

William Peyer, 
Samuel Jackson." 

* Extract of a speech delivered at a banquet at Je- 
remie, published in the Port-au-Prince ' Manifeste,' 
iNov ember, 1842. 



ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 



167 



reaped a rich and glorious harvest ; and 
the Baptist denomination has at length 
heard the cry of her perishing millions, 
and has gone up " to the help of the Lord 
against the mighty." 

Under its auspices an army of Africa's 
own children, the first fruits of missionary 
zeal in Jamaica, will, it is fondly hoped, 
penetrate to the very heart of their father- 
land, and plant the standard of the cross 
on its hoary mountains, and sow the seed 
of the Gospel along its sterile valleys. The 
galling chain of slavery was no sooner 
smitten from the exiled negroes in the west, 
than their hearts yearned over their ne- 
glected brethren at home ; and multitudes 
of them, in the spirit of true devotion, are 
ready, like the Israelites, to return from 
the land of their captivity, taking the ark 
of God with them.* Africa now begins 
to absorb the sympathies of the whole 
civilized world. The Anti-Slavery Socie- 
ties of England and America, the African 
Civilization Society, the African Institute 
of France, are all intent on her elevation. 
So with the whole Christian church. Every 
thing seems to say that the time to favour 
Africa is come ; that the day of her redemp- 
tion draweth nigh. She " stands ready to- 
morrow to receive a hundred thousand 
missionaries." 

Here and there on the South American 
continent also the light of divine truth has 
been kindled. Wherever we turn, the 
piercing cry is heard, " the harvest is 
great, but the labourers are few." Lovers 
of social order, friends of education and 
the rightsof man, Christians of every name, 
ministers of the Gospel of Christ, awake, 
and further the transfer of missionaries to 
these benighted lands, but especially to in- 
jured Africa. No longer suffer her to 
weep for her children. Soon let it be said, 
"Thussaith the Lord, refrain thy voice 
from weeping and thine eyes from tears ; 
for thy work shall be rewarded, saith the 
Lord, and they shall come again from the 
land of the enemy. And there is hope in 
their end, saith the Lord, that their children 
shall come again into their own border." 

The obligations of true Christians to dif- 

* The Rev. John Clarke, of the Baptist Missionary 
Society, to whom and his colleague, Dr. Prince, a 
wide and effectual door has been opened in Western 
Africa, is now on his way to Jamaica, with the design 
of conveying a considerable number of pious and de- 
voted black and coloured men as missionaries to that 
continent. 



fuse the Gospel of Christ through the na- 
tions of the earth, rise with peculiar pro- 
priety out of the system of truth they 
espouse. The direct commission of the 
great Redeemer, as well as the more gene- 
ral precepts of His word, fall with all the 
weight of divine authority on the con- 
science and the heart, and bind his dis- 
ciples with the force of law to disseminate 
the seed of "the kingdom." But in addi- 
tion to these, and in vital sympathy with 
them, there is the legitimate influence of 
the doctrines they receive — a gentle con- 
straining power, mightier than law, which 
no devout heart can resist. There is not 
a truth connected with the great evangeli- 
cal scheme, and received " in the love of 
it" into an " humble and contrite heart," 
which does not feed in its measure the 
springs of benevolence and love; which 
does not bring into the breast which re- 
ceives it the element of a new and a better 
life, and awaken, by its silent ministrations, 
the holier sympathies and aims. But when 
the whole range of truths which compose 
the " glorious Gospel of the blessed God " 
exert their combined influence on the mind, 
they " create all things new." Beneath 
their genial effects the thoughts take an 
ampler range, the affections kindle with a 
purer and a diviner flame, and motives are 
supplied by considerations of the mightiest 
and tenderest import. The whole man is 
raised, his moral attitude is changed, his 
mind beats in unison with the divine intelli- 
gence itself, and his heart, like that of his 
great Master, breathes its solicitudes to- 
wards a dying world. The missionary 
spirit is not a transient fire, kindled amidst 
heated passion, or an eccentric light escap- 
ed from the realms of a bewildered imagi- 
nation, but the quiet and rational growth 
of enlightened Christianity ; the fair and 
inevitable result of the cordial belief of the 
doctrines of the cross of Christ ; the beauti- 
ful offspring of a power seated amidst the 
faculties of the soul, silently impelling them 
to a large and comprehensive morality, and 
spreading through them a glow of philan- 
thropy that pants to relieve the strongest 
exigencies of men. " I am debtor both to 
the Greeks and barbarians, both to the 
wise and to the unwise. For I could wish 
that myself were accursed from Christ for 
my brethren, mv kinsmen according to the 
flesh." 

Whether the devout believer in revealed 



168 



JAMAICA : 



religion contemplate its more awful dis- 
closures, or his thoughts turn to its bright- 
er discoveries, he derives inducements on 
every hand for unabating efforts to extend 
its blessings through the world. It is im- 
possible for him to survey the nations 
wrapt in ignorance, bound in the fetters of 
degrading superstitions, and " led captive 
by the devil at his will," without being 
moved with compassion towards them. 
Believing them to be under the curse, and 
exposed to the anger of God, looking on 
them as they advance in gloomy succes- 
sion, from generation to generation, to the 
grave, without knowledge, without holiness, 
without hope, " his bowels yearn over them 
in the Lord." If, turning from these 
sombre reflections on the more dreadful 
features of their present position, and 
future prospects, he advert to more inspir- 
ing themes, his sense of obligation towards 
them acquires yet greater strength. The 
beneficence of the great Jehovah, his un- 
bounded grace in the gift of his Son, the 
condescending and mysterious advent of 
the Saviour, his awful agony and victorious 
death, the efficacy of his sacrifice, and the 
triumph of his power, strangely deepen the 
impression. An experimental sense of the 
incomparable preciousness of evangelical 
truth, an unpresuming hope of interest in 
its blessings, mingled with holy gratitude 
and astonishment that he should possess 
such treasures, enjoy such privileges, and 
be animated by such hopes, give energy to 
his impulses and intenseness to his desires. 
" Have respect," he cries, " to thy cove- 
nant, for the dark places of the earth are 
full of the habitations of cruelty." A right 
state of mind with relation to the claims 
of heathen lands, like every other virtue, 
brings a corresponding reward. From the 
rise of the spirit of missions is to be dated 
the commencement of an improved condi- 
tion in the churches at home. It awakened 
the slumbering genius of enterprise in 
Zion ; it cast the thoughts and feelings of 
pious persons into a new and finer mould, 
gave amplitude to their ideas, and material- 
ly aided in relaxing the rigidity and exclu- 
siveness of theirtheology. It drew believers 
into closer union, and fed the hallowed 
fires of devotion, which are ever burning 
on the altars of the church. The energy 
which has gone forth from the community 
of the faithful, to the help of those who 
were ready to perish, so far from being 



followed by exhaustion, has been the oc- 
casion of renewed strength. As when 
some stately oak, rising in majesty above 
all around it, spreads its ample branches 
freely beneath the heavens, and, as it ex- 
pands, strikes its vast roots more deeply 
into the friendly soil, so the vigour of the 
church has increased since she sought a 
wider range for her powers. No private 
Christian, nor any society of godly men, 
can cherish the higher virtues which are 
included in enlightened missionary zeal, 
without realizing the fulfilment of the pro- 
mise that " he who waters others shall be 
watered also himself." 

Nor need the Christian patriot be indif- 
ferent to the great advantages of a more 
general kind, both civil and moral, which 
accrue from the widening march of Chris- 
tian missions. The honour of his country 
is augmented, its progressive prosperity in 
some degree guaranteed, and the presence 
of the God of nations vouchsafed. As it 
is with individuals, so with communities, 
when their ways " please the Lord he 
maketh their enemies to be at peace with 
them." 

But that which invests this glorious 
cause with its highest interest, in the esti- 
mation of devout men, is its inseparable 
connexion with the honour of the Son of 
God. Since the attention of the church 
has been directed to the conversion of the 
nations of the world a revenue of glory 
has redounded to him unprecedented in the 
history of his reign. The sublimity of the 
conception, entertained by his obscure and 
unpretending disciples, does honour to a 
system which repudiates in its extension 
all civil authority, and mere secular aid; 
which, unlike every system of imposture, 
whether political or religious, that has 
been ambitious of dominion, casts aside 
the warrior's sword, and the oppressor's 
rod, and boasts of no armour but that of 
meekness, gentleness, and truth. That 
this mighty thought should draw all its 
nourishment, and acquire all its fitness 
from the doctrines which he taught, and 
from the promises which he made: that 
all the theories of mere reason, or of a 
boasted philosophy, should be impotent to 
the vast undertaking, and altogether un- 
prepared to sympathize with it: that no 
other set of truths except those he dis- 
closed should inspire the generous moral, 
or possess the requisite might, must surely 



ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 



169 



redound to his praise ! That with those 
who entertain the loftiest conceptions of 
his person, and the largest ideas of the 
scope of his mission, should originate the 
grandest moral scheme that has ever filled 
the minds of men : that in proportion as 
there is a descent from this elevated esti- 
mate, the stirring impulse, and the com- 
prehensive intention involved in the idea 
of missions is weakened and surrendered, 
cannot but be to his glory ! That inci- 
dental benefits, better than any direct ones 
conferred through other mediums, should 
attend those regions of the earth to which 
his religion is carried and taught in sim- 
plicity and truth : that a spirit of inquiry, 
an extending range of moral vision, the 
decay of degrading custom and of bewil- 
dering superstitions, freedom, the birth- 
right of man, with social and domestic im- 
provement and peace, should bless the 
nations among whom his name is pro- 
claimed, augments his extending fame ! 
That, as his servants have advanced upon 
the territories of the Prince of Darkness, 
in whatever quarter of the globe, ignorance 
and vice and malice and rage have fled 
before them, and the graces of the Spirit 
have sprung up in their path ; that tens of 
thousands, as he has been lifted up before 
them, have cried, " other Lords have had 
dominion over us, but by thee only will 
we make mention of thy name :" that evi- 
dence of the truth of his religion, and the 
spiritual glory of his kingdom, should ac- 
cumulate in such masses along the line of 
Christian missions: that unbelief grows 
pale, and conviction begins to light up the 
universal mind : that death and the invisi- 
ble world should have recorded in all but 
innumerable instances on their mysterious 
page, from among all climes, the splendid 
triumphs of his cross adds imperishable 
lustre to his crown! "When thou shalt 
make his soul an offering for sin he shall 
see his seed, he shall prolong his days, 
and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper 
in his hand." 

In concert with the more disinterested 
motives which should impel professing 
Christians forward in this great cause, they 
may well be influenced by the recollection 
of the most limited season within which it 
is allowed them to labour, and the speedy 
approach of the final audit, as well as the 
instituted connexion between their present 
devotedness and their future reward, " He 

12 



that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit 
reap life everlasting." Who is not ambi- 
tious of fhe plaudit of the descending judge? 
Who would not aspire to the highest ho- 
nours of the eternal world? "They that 
be wise shall shine as the brightness of the 
firmament; and they that turn many to 
righteousness, as the stars for ever and 
ever." 

The means by which the desire of the 
church is to be accomplished have been 
instituted by the Saviour himself; nor will 
he permit his people to neglect them with 
impunity, or to substitute others in their 
stead. Simple as they are, they are emi- 
nently suited to the attainment of their 
end, and are incapable of improvement by 
the complicated contrivances of men. They 
are as ancient as that system of truth they 
are appointed to serve, and will admit of 
no extraneous adjuncts or novel devices. 
The progress of religion in the world, like 
the growth of piety in the heart, can be 
served only by spiritual means, by a strict 
adherence to the laws of that " kingdom 
which is not of this world." The injunc- 
tions of legislators, and the mandates of 
thrones, may do much to retard, but can 
effect little to advance, its triumphs. The 
subtilties of human policy have in them 
nothing in common with the " wisdom that 
cometh from above, which is at first pure, 
then peaceable, easy to be entreated, full 
of mercy and good fruits." The utter 
weakness of human nature, and the feeble- 
ness of its resources, are never more con- 
spicuous than when, passing beyond their 
province, the potentates of the earth at- 
tempt to direct and regulate the higher in- 
terests of mankind. They have nothing 
to do but to unite with the obscurest citizen 
in subjecting themselves to the divine autho- 
rity of Him who is no respecter of persons. 
Nor can any benefit accrue to this great 
cause from rash innovations, or the plausi- 
ble expedients of its sincere but too san- 
guine friends. It is vain to carry the cal- 
culations of commerce and the maxims of 
the world into the Church of God. The 
effect they produce, however apparently 
good, is transient and deceptive ; they may 
agitate the surface, but they weaken the 
centre; may induce a delusive flush of 
vigour and health, like the influence of 
powerful stimulants on the human frame, 
but they induce languor at the heart. 

In the ordination of the means bv which 



170 



JAMAICA 



to carry forward the interests of truth in 
the earth, as in the developement of truth 
itself, "Jehovah has abounded towards us 
in all wisdom and prudence." 

It is impossible to attach too much im- 
portance in the order of means, to the pro- 
mulgation of the Gospel in its primitive 
simplicity and apostolic glory free from 
all the admixtures of a refined philosophy 
and useless traditions. The proclamation 
of the love of God in the unspeakable gift 
of his beloved Son, the free invitations of 
his grace and his claims to the obedience 
of faith, have been instrumental in the 
hands of Christian missionaries, of all de- 
nominations, in winning the hearts of the 
heathen to his authority ; and a conscien- 
tious adherence to the same prescribed 
course will secure for them his increased 
approbation and sanction. Let but this 
divine mission continue to be ardently dis- 
charged by men of God, full of faith and 
of the Holy Ghost, and nothing can with- 
stand it ; all opposition will fall before it, 
as Dagon before the Ark. This is the 
grand secret by which the world is to be 
reclaimed, and the vast empire of darkness 
to be overthrown. 

Nor must we leave out of view the ne- 
cessity of an entire dependence on the 
agency of the Spirit of God, an habitual 
reference to those promised influences with- 
out which Paul may plant and Apollos 
water in vain. In conjunction with these 
stands the wonderful ordinance of prayer, 
the appointed medium of direct intercourse 
with heaven, that holy exercise on which 
it has pleased the blessed God to suspend 
his communications to men. Let but the 
devout supplications of the united church 
ascend as incense to the great Father of 
Spirits through the intercession of his Son, 
and there need be no limits to the expecta- 
tions of his servants. " Prove Me here- 
with, saith the Lord of Hosts, if I will not 
open you the windows of Heaven, and 
pour you out a blessing that there shall 
not be room enough to receive it."* Not 
a petition should be concluded in the closet, 
at the domestic altar, at the social meet- 
ing, or in the public worship of Jehovah, 
without the supplication "Thy kingdom 
come." 

It is an admirable law in the constitution 
of things that the lesser virtues wait upon 

* Malachi iii. 10, 



the greater. Consequent on the cultivation 
of these momentous means is the inferior, 
but not less requisite, practice of enlarged 
benevolence. The devotion of the heart to 
any cause carries in it a disposition to 
make any sacrifice to advance it. To pre- 
tend to be deeply concerned for the salva- 
tion of men, and yet to be backward to 
give money to promote it, is to insult rea- 
son, and therefore to disgrace religion. 
The professor, who descants with affected 
fervour on the importance of missionary 
enterprise, but who is prolific with excuses 
when called on to support it, may find pal- 
liatives in the selfish maxims of a frigid 
economy, but he does violence to moral 
order, and will not escape the rebuke of 
his Judge. Honour the Lord with thy sub- 
stance, and with the first fruits of all thine 
increase, is equally the command of God 
as to preach the Gospel to every creature, 
or to pray earnestly for its success. To 
unite them is reasonable, natural, and re- 
ligious ; but to pretend to the one while ne- 
glecting the other is hypocrisy — a solemn 
mockery — a contradiction in language and 
conduct. No Christian is at liberty to 
consider himself an independent proprie- 
tor of his wealth any more than of his 
talents or of his time. He is responsible, 
by the very law of his profession, for its 
proper appropriation, while he is bound by 
ties of holiest gratitude to place it at the 
disposal of him who gave his life a ransom 
for many. Discountenancing the extrava- 
gant doctrines of those who advocate the 
surrender of all the possessions, and the 
abandonment of the comforts, of life, who 
would have men pour the fortunes with 
which Providence may have endowed them 
indiscriminately into the exchequer of the 
church, as subversive of propriety and as 
derogatory to true religion, it becomes 
needful to guard on the other hand against 
a spirit of parsimony and worldly policy — 
to hold up to marked disapprobation those 
sophistical subterfuges beneath which the 
professed followers of Christ too frequently 
conceal that covetousness which is idola- 
try. Let the love of God be shed abroad 
in their hearts by the Holy Ghost given 
unto them — let but the spirit of prayer and 
the grace of supplication rest upon them, 
and generous sentiments will fill their 
breasts, while sound discretion will regu- 
late their hands. There is but little dan- 
ger of the liberality of men who are under 



ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 



171 



the direction of right principles exceeding 
the bounds of Christian prudence; or, if 
such cases should occasionally occur, He 
who searcheth the hearts will rather ap- 
prove the errors of benevolence than the 
indifference that never stirs, the caution 
which always hesitates, or the supineness 
that ever sleeps. Hitherto the Christian 
church in its collective capacity has cheer- 
fully responded to the appeals of humanity 
and piety, and its generosity has borne a 
gratifying proportion to its ever-increas- 
ing claims. It is to the honour of the 
churches of Christ in Great Britain that 
such vast amounts have been annually 
collected in behalf of foreign missions. 
Still, if the work is to be conducted on a 
scale at all commensurate with the terri- 
tory to be reclaimed, the standard of libe- 
rality must be raised, and increased con- 
tributions poured in. A consciousness of 
individual responsibility must fall upon the 
members of the churches ; no one must 
claim exemption, but each must present his 
offering — the accumulating capitalist, with 
the toiling mechanic; the several branches 
as well as the venerated heads of house- 
holds; the indigent as well as the affluent. 
As an instance of what may be effected 
by a combination of effort, it is only re- 
quisite to turn to the Baptist and other 
churches in Jamaica. The people com- 
posing them are generally poor, and each 
gives but little, but, each contributing 
something, and doing so continually, far 
more is raised for benevolent objects, in 
proportion to their strength, than by Chris- 
tian communities, however distinguished, 
in any other part of the world. 

As the divine Redeemer advances in his 
glorious career, to take the heathen as his 
inheritance, in answer to the ascending 
prayers of his church, the motive for ex- 
tended liberality is strengthened, and the 
munificence of his people will, it is confi- 
dently hoped, rise with the number and 
urgency of his claims. 

As a spirit of enlightened commise- 
ration for the heathen shall mingle itself 
yet more deeply with the piety of British 
Christians, instances of personal dedication 
to the work of missions will increase. No 
reflecting person can fail to trace the fin- 
ger of God in the noiseless manner in 
which the great work has hitherto been 
carried on. Instead of men leaving their 
native shores in large bodies, and so at- 



tracting the attention of society, and on 
alighting in distant lands awakening the 
suspicion of strangers, the messengers of 
mercy have gone forth singly and at inter- 
vals, almost unperceived, while by their 
seeming weakness they have excited the 
pity and contempt rather than roused the 
opposition, of foes. By this arrangement, 
the result of absolute necessity more than 
of design on the part of the churches of 
the Redeemer, but ordered in infinite wis- 
dom by the blessed God, Christian doc- 
trine, so inimical to the tastes and adverse 
to the established superstitions of the na- 
tions, has been silently insinuated into 
most unlikely regions and as leaven, pro- 
mises to leaven the whole lump. By re- 
siding among cruel savages and effeminate 
idolaters till, by their blameless lives and 
disinterested efforts, they have conciliated 
their respect by introducing the useful arts 
of civilized society, or imperceptibly in- 
fusing the spirit of Christian truth into the 
prevalent literature, the solitary teacher, 
or the little unsuspected band, " has pre- 
pared the way of the Lord, and cast up in 
the desert a highway for our God." Plans 
may now be entertained and executed 
which, if attempted in the earlier stages of 
the enterprise, would have been frustrated 
by unfriendly authorities, and have post- 
poned the dawn of that day, the bright 
morning of which now opens so enchant- 
ingly all around. " My thoughts are not 
as your thoughts ; nor my ways as your 
ways, saith the Lord." But the time has 
now arrived for a bolder and more reso- 
lute assault. The apprehensions of the 
rulers of the earth are allayed, the base 
and interested nature of the opposition of 
corrupted priesthoods is suspected by their 
votaries. The peaceable and useful influ- 
ence of missions on civil and social life is 
acknowledged. A spirit of inquiry has 
been awakened, and millions upon millions 
are " waiting for his law." The appalling 
exigencies of the heathen have been ren- 
dered most affectingly conspicuous, by the 
startling inadequacy of all attempts which 
have been made to meet them. Lamps 
have been lighted here and there, which 
serve to reveal the surrounding gloom. In 
more than one eastern city there is but a 
single missionary to a hundred thousand 
people, and in some instances no one like- 
minded within a distance of a hundred 
miles ; while in other parts, where labour- 



172 



JAMAICA : 



ers are more numerous, they are altogether ' 
unequal to the duties laid upon them by 
their very successes. " Verily the fields 
are white unto the harvest." The ripen- 
ing corn invites the sickle; it bends be- 
neath its weight ; it waves before the 
breeze. The sky is lowering, the wind 
moaning, the air chilling — the season will 
soon be past, and the opportunity ended. 
But where a host of hands should seize the 
spoil, a single reaper only appears here 
and there, breast high, mocked by the 
seeming hopelessness of his work, and 
dispirited b\ the loneliness of his position. 

" Where are the youthful Christians 
prepared to occupy the high places of the 
field? Where the fathers ready to place 
them on this altar ? the mothers ready to 
give them up ? They can surrender them 
to the contagion of idolatry, of vice, of 
traffic, and of war. Men of science cross 
the seas to mark the transit of a planet, 
and to record the appearance of the stars ; 
and shall sloth enervate the Christian's 
heart, or pusillanimity paralyse his arm? 
A dying world anxiously waits for a re- 
sponse to the appeal, ' whom shall we 
send, and who will go for us ?' "* Churches 
of the living God ! Families of the faith- 
ful ! Seminaries of religion and learning ! 
Ministers of the cross of Christ ! your in- 
creased sympathy and aid are affection- 
ately, but earnestly implored. f 

The signs of the times, as they unfold 
themselves around us, strengthen the obli- 
gations and minister to the encouragement 
of the church. Philosophic and theoretic 
infidelity, once so active and obtrusive, has 
exhausted its resources, and grown ashamed 
of its sophistries, so that those energies 
which were required to defend the Chris- 
tian faith against learned and subtle adver- 
saries at home are now ready to be turned 
against systems of error and idolatry 
abroad. Unbelief, driven from the for- 
tresses it had thrown around itself from 
the pretensions of the intellect, has taken 
refuge in the cold indifference or malignant 
resistance of the heart — a position peculiar 
to none, and from which men of every 



* Hamilton's Prize Essay. 

t In the world's convention, which was held in 
London about two years since, one of the speakers 
stated that a poor black man of Jamaica, who wished 
to go to Africa to tell the glad tidings of salvation, 
on being told that, among other difficulties, he might 
be a slave again, replied, " If I have been a slave for 
man, I can be a slave for God." 



clime can only be dislodged by those 
words " which are spirit and which are 
life." The convulsive throes of anti- 
christ ; the daring but futile attempts 
which are making to efface the doctrines 
of the Reformation, and to revive the worst 
errors of the Papacy, call upon the 
churches with a voice of thunder to diffuse 
through all lands the unadulterated light 
of the " glorious Gospel of the blessed 
God," and to supplant the flagrant lies of 
the man of sin by the bold and universal 
promulgation of the " truth as it is in Je- 
sus." The British arms, famous in the 
annals of military prowess, are, however 
inequitably, extending their conquests and 
throwing open the way to multitudinous 
and inaccessible tribes. Dynasties, whose 
date carries us back beyond the limits of 
historic story, and which baffle the re- 
searches of the learned, are disclosing 
their mysterious secrets. Haughty mo- 
narchsand imperious priests, on whom had 
settled the silence of ages, are dreading 
the approach of truth, the overthrow of 
their foul altars, and the invasion of their 
gorgeous temples. The decay of trade in 
our streets, and the departure of commerce 
from our shores, with a gradually ex- 
hausting exchequer, will speedily compel 
the rulers of this great empire to admit 
the ships of all nations to our ports, and 
open to our merchants the exchanges of 
the world. With our traffic is diffused our 
influence, our language, and our literature, 
and the way is prepared for the extension 
of our religion. Whilst we are summon- 
ing our hosts to the battle, our fellow Chris- 
tians in the new world are equally assi- 
duous ; and by their confederacy with us 
are contributing to create such an amount 
of evidence in favour of Christian missions 
as cannot fail to secure for them the ho- 
mage of the world, and to render most dif- 
ficult, if not altogether impracticable, their 
suppression at any time by the enemies of 
liberty and religion. With such tokens 
glittering all around us and with the pro- 
vidence of God thus anticipating us, dare 
we pause in our course ? 

Nor can the issue of the struggle be al- 
lowed to be doubtful. Mere human 
schemes, however wisely planned and vi- 
gorously worked, are liable to be defeated. 
They hang upon contingencies that no 
forethought can prevent, and may be 
thrown into confusion by casualties inci- 



ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 



173 



dent to the profoundest purposes of finite 
minds. But the designs of the servants of 
Christ, moulded according to the direc- 
tions of his word, and executed in humble 
dependence on his grace, are in sympathy 
with the councils of the blessed God, and 
run parallel with his thoughts of love and 
mercy towards sinful men. They enlist 
on their side the perfections of Him whom 
no stratagems can baffle and against whom 
no combination can succeed. Apparently 
insuperable obstacles may stand in the way, 
and the friends of missions may meet with 
painful diversions and temporary defeat, 
but why do the " Heathen rage,- and the 
people imagine a vain thing ? He that 
sitteth in the Heavens shall laugh ; the 
Lord shall have them in derision." " His 
council must stand, and he will do all his 
pleasure." 

It were folly to attempt to define the 
distinct stage at which Jehovah has arrived 
in his career of mercy and of love, and 
presumptuous to attempt to assign the date 
at which his beneficent purposes shall be 
fulfilled. " It is the glory of God to con- 
ceal a thing." We are familiar with the 
history of the church, but the chronology 
of the great work of redemption is not re- 
vealed to us. It is impossible, however, to 



compare the page of prophecy with tran- 
spiring events, without a glow of expecta- 
tion and hope. The Mahomedan impos- 
ture, by which the nations have been so 
long enslaved, is sinking beneath the 
weight of its crimes. Forms of ecclesias- 
tical polity, based on usurpation, and nur- 
tured by popular ignorance, are gradually 
declining throughout Europe. The oracles 
of truth have been translated into the most 
dissonant, as well as the more elegant lan- 
guages of the earth. Enlarged spheres of 
usefulness summon the faithful to renewed 
activity and zeal. Almighty God, as the 
moral Governor of the world, is advancing 
with unwonted rapidity on his majestic 
way, and as he proceeds " every valley is 
exalted, and every mountain and hill is 
made low." His exalted Son surveys, 
with divine tranquillity, the turbulent ele- 
ments as they roll beneath his feet, and 
looks with high approbation on the exer- 
tions of his servants, whilst he already 
hears, with sublime delight, the distant 
sound of a great multitude " as the voice 
of many waters, and as the voice of mighty 
thunderings, saying, Alleluia ! the Lord 
God omnipotent reigneth !" Where is the 
Christian who would not accelerate his 
triumphs? 



APPENDIX. 



PLAN OF A COLLEGE IN JAMAICA. 



ADDRESS. 

It cannot fail to have been a matter of sincere 
regret to the liberal and intelligent portion of the 
community that a colony, in all respects so im- 
portant as that of Jamaica, should have been so 
long destitute of an institution for the instruction 
of its youth in the learned languages, and in the 
various departments of science. 

As a consequence of this deficiency, all persons 
who have resolved to participate the benefits of a 
liberal education themselves, or have desired this 
privilege for their families, have been obliged to 
resort to the universities or higher schools of Eu- 
rope or America, — a necessity which has occa- 
sioned many painful sacrifices to the wealthy, and 
been a source of no small disadvantage to society 
at large. 

The College of Fort William in Bengal has 
been for years in operation, and has already se- 
cured the most important results to the middling 
and higher classes of British India. Similar in- 
stitutions are in existence in Barbadoes, Nova 
Scotia, and Canada; and proposals for the esta- 
blishment of a university, on a liberal and com- 
prehensive scale, have been for some time before 
the public for the colony of the Cape of Good 
Hope. And shall the inhabitants of Jamaica be 
any longer debarred the inestimable privilege 
which such an establishment would afford, and 
continue subject to the reproach of such deficiency 
when every means for its supply is within their 
power, — when, indeed, scarcely any thing is re- 
quired but unity of purpose and of energy ? If at 
any one period, more than another, in the history 
of Jamaica, there existed a real necessity for such 
an institution, — and if at any time pre-eminent 
facilities were afforded for its establishment, — it 
must surely be the present. Apart from all other 
considerations, 'proprietors and other influential 
individuals are less capable than formerly of sus- 
taining the heavy pecuniary expenses which a 
European education involves; and if this inability 
is experienced by many of the higher classes of 
society, it must be obvious that the advantage of 
a liberal education, in its most comprehensive 
sense, must be entirely beyond the reach of the 
intermediate portion of the community, now ra- 
pidly increasing in number and respectability. 



From such considerations, and from many 
others of equal importance that could be urged, 
the immediate establishment of a College in 
Jamaica, on principles which will enable respecta- 
ble youth of all colours to reap the advantages 
which the most comprehensive system of educa- 
tion can confer, must appear to every intelligent 
individual, interested in the real welfare of the 
country, a most important desideratum. 

The adoption of such a Plan would necessarily 
require the possession of considerable funds, and 
would entail difficulties, in other respects, of no 
ordinary magnitude. It is presumed, however, 
from a deliberate view of all the circumstances, 
that if any thing like that general sympathy is 
awakened to the object upon which it is reasona- 
ble to calculate, every apparent obstacle would 
quickly disappear, and such success ensured as 
the most sanguine mind could anticipate. 

Deeply impressed with these considerations, the 
writer takes leave to submit to the liberal and en- 
lightened public the following Prospectus of an 
Institution, which is designed, in accordance with 
the views already expressed, not only to secure to 
the students the best education in all the higher 
branches of literature and science, for which there 
might be any demand, and to communicate to 
them such course of instruction as would enable 
them to appear in the learned professions, but one 
in the proceedings and discipline of which, also, 
religious and political party distinctions would be 
unknown, — where, regarding human beings as 
free agents, liberty of conscience as the right of 
man, and literature as a common blessing, — good 
scholarship, good morals, virtuous habits, indus- 
try, and talent would constitute the only basis of 
distinction. 

Should the Plan in general meet with the ap- 
probation of the public, it is desirable that such 
individuals as are especially interested in the ob- 
ject would signify that interest by communicating 
with the writer,* with a view to the formation of 
a Committee, who would mature the Plan, and 
begin to carry it into execution by the immediate 
appointment of agents authorized to collect and 
receive subscriptions for the purpose. 



* Addressed No. 6, Fen Court, Feuchurch Street, 
London. 



APPENDIX. 



175 



It may not be unnecessary to remark, in con- 
cluding this Address, that the important object 
here advocated, has already engaged the attention 
of several gentlemen of influence and respecta- 
bility in Jamaica, who would cordially unite with 
others in the adoption of measures calculated to 
insure the immediate execution of the design. 

PLAN. 

I. Professors : — 

In the incipient operations, when only a limited 
elementary course is contemplated, probably two 
or three Professors would be sufficient, as, with 
reference to many of the subjects proposed, a state- 
ment of their scope and fundamental principles, in 
the form of an occasional lecture, might suffice. 

1. For Languages — Latin, Greek, and He- 
brew,* — to which French and Spanish should be 
added, as essential. 

2. For Logic and Philosophy — including the 
Philosophy of the Human Mind, Moral Philoso- 
phy, and Political— the latter of which involves 
the principles of political economy and jurispru- 
dence. 

3. For Botany, Chemistry, and Natural History. 
The course of Political Economy might be con- 
fined to the reading of a simple elementary volume. 

For the study of Natural History the proximity 
of a museum would offer great advantages. An 
occasional visit to such a collection would form 
an excellent comment on whatever outline of ani- 
mated nature might be put into the hands of the 
junior classes. 

A few lectures, also, on the useful arts, en- 
gineering, and manufactures, might perhaps sa- 
tisfy all the requisites of the occasion. Should 
drawing be thought a desideratum, it should be 
taught by a master, and, together with tuition in 
the modern languages, be paid for as an extra ; but 
the principles of perspective should be included in 
the course of geometry. The lectures might be 
delivered by the different Professors by an ar- 
rangement among themselves, under the sanction 
of a superior power, as is the case in many of the 
continental universities. 

II. Salaries of the Professors : — 

Funds for this purpose to be raised, as well as 
for the current expenses of the establishment in 
general, — 

1. Partly from the voluntary subscriptions of 
the public. 

2. Partly by a charge of 50Z. each per annum, 
more or less, to regular students ; and, 

3. Partly by fees for the delivery of lectures. 

III. Qualifications of the Professors : — 

1. They should be men of an orthodox creed, of 
high moral character, and of liberal sentiments. 

2. Persons of first rate qualifications in their 
respective departments. 

3. Individuals who would have no other employ- 
ment; and, 

4. Who would endeavour to improve themselves, 
from year to year, in the knowledge of what be- 
longed to their department. 

IV. Lkngth of the Session : — 

1. The session to commence in the month of 
, and conclude in the month of 



* This desirable from local considerations. 



2. Ten days' relaxation at Christmas, and a 
month at Easter. 

3. The length of the whole course of studies to 
be three or four years. 

V. Students : — 

1. All young men to be admitted who might be 
of good moral character, and who desire improve- 
ment in useful knowledge. 

2. No impediment should arise from complexion, 
or from difference of religious denomination. 

3. Such an institution would offer peculiar ad- 
vantages to young men designed for the Christian 
ministry, previously to their entering on a course 
of theological study. 

4. It might also be found highly beneficial to 
theological students, after having finished their 
course, either under a private tutor or in a public 
theological seminary. Such individuals might wish 
to spend a year at the college previously to their be- 
coming candidates for the pastoral office. Simi- 
lar advantages would be afforded by it to young 
men preparing for the superintendence of normal- 
schools. Persons of prudence and piety, with 
such prospects, would prove a peculiar acquisition 
to the college, as examples of good conduct and of 
diligence in study. They would, moreover, by 
their inspection, influence, and lessons, materially 
assist the juniors in their literary pursuits. 

5. Gentlemen of leisure might wish to enjoy the 
benefits of such an institution, respectable young 
men in public offices, and in professional and com- 
mercial establishments. Such individuals might 
occasionally attend courses of lectures, &c. To 
young men, before immediately entering upon the 
business of active life in any respectable situation, 
the benefits which the college would confer would 
be incalculable. 

VI. Mode of Instruction : — 

1. The University of Glasgow, it is conceived, 
forms the best model of any public institution in 
Europe in this respect, as combining — 1st, Public 
lectures by the professors ; 2nd, Careful examina- 
tion of the students on those lectures ; and 3rd, 
Frequent themes in writing on the subject of those 
lectures. 

2. The professors should not be bound by any 
statutes, or otherwise, to follow any particular or 
precise mode of communicating their instructions, 
but should be expected to discharge their duties in 
the spirit of the existing age, and with the aid of 
whatever improvements the advanced state of 
society has discovered. 

PLACE AND ACCOMMODATION. 

VII. As to Place :— 

A cool and salubrious situation would be of the 
first importance for the seat of the college, as an 
inducement to able professors from Europe, and 
on account of the health of the students. It should 
be retired, as a safeguard against the formation of 
disreputable connexions, as well as to prevent as 
much as possible abstraction from study. It 
should be, moreover, of easy access, possessing the 
advantages of a carriage-road ; in the county of 
Middlesex, at no great distance from Kingston and 
Spanish Town, yet sufficiently within the reach of 
the respectable inhabitants of the colony at large, 
and in the vicinity of two or more places of reli- 
gious worship of different denominations. 



176 



APPENDIX. 



VIII. Accommodations: — 

It would be desirable, until at least the college 
be established, to purchase or rent an eligible 
house for the purpose, but should no suitable pre- 
mises offer, necessary buildings of an economical 
description might be erected. Funds for the pur- 
chase or rent of premises, or for the erection of 
suitable buildings, could be raised by voluntary 
subscription : or, as in the case of the London Uni- 
versity (now University College), by a sale of 
shares, as a committee or a board of directors 
might determine. 

IX. Discipline and Government : — 

1. It should be liberal. 

2. It should be strictly observed. 

3. It should consider good moral conduct as 
absolutely necessary. 

4. It should render the college incompatible 
with the abode of individuals in it whose habits 
were not industrious. 

5. It should aim to render the students useful 
and ornamental members of civil society, and 
should also regard them as immortal beings pre- 
paring for a higher destination. 

Whenever the institution might arrive at a 
state of maturity, and the professors considered it 
advantageous to confer literary honours on such 
students as might distinguish themselves, it may 
be presumed that viewing the college in all its 
important bearings on the surrounding islands and 
continent (not omitting Africa), but more especially 
as designed for the learned education of the inha- 
bitants of a colony at once so numerous and so 
generally deprived of all other means of obtaining 
literary distinction, the free and liberal Govern- 
ment of Great Britain, so interested in the esta- 
blishment of all such institutions, would willingly 
facilitate its importance and usefulness, by grant- 
ing a charter for that purpose. 

In order to prepare a succession of young per- 
sons for the study of the highest branches of learn- 
ing at the college, as well as to secure other im- 
portant advantages, it would be desirable to con- 
nect with the Jamaica Institution, as at the Lon- 
don University, and other colleges on the continent 
of Europe, a seminary of elementary instruction, 
of which the following extract from the ' Journal de 
Geneve,' republished in the ' Bibliotheque Univer- 
selle' of Professor Pictet, in 1817, will furnish a 
simple and interesting example : — 

" Upwards of 200 years ago, two illustrious re- 
formers conceived the plan of founding at Geneva 
a public school to prepare young people for the 
higher parts of learning. This school, which from 
that time has always subsisted amongst us, bears 
the name of college, and is divided into nine classes, 
in each of which beginning at the ninth, the 
scholars learn successively to read and write, and 
afterwards from the seventh to the first,* ortho- 
graphy, Latin, and Greek. . . . The lessons 
are given in each by a particular master, named 
the regent of the class, and who is chosen in open 
competition by the academy, under the special 
superintendence of which the whole college is 

* It would not be thought desirable, probably, to 
form the Jamaica Preparatory Institution after so in- 
cipient a model as this. The extract is introduced to 
illustrate the practicability and advantage of the plan. 



placed. Each regent give in his class from five to 
six hours' lessons a day. ... I will add that 
all the classes of the college are held in the same 
building, but separate from one another ; that they 
have all the same hours ; that the regents and the 
scholars are constantly under the superintendence 
of an inspector chosen by the academy, under the 
name of Principal, who lives in rooms above ; that 
once a year there are distributed publicly, and with 
great solemnity, the prizes they are supposed to 
have merited ; and that at last, on passing out from 
the first class, they are admitted as students into 
the auditories, when the professors, who compose 
our academy, give regular lectures, on which the 
students are required to undergo an annual public 
examination." Thus the greater number of our 
young boys, whatever their after destination may 
be, receive their education at the college, and sel- 
dom leave it without having acquired the elements 
of Latin and Greek." 

The reader in this country will perceive that what 
is here called the " College" answers more or less to 
our high schools. Their academy is what we should 
have called the college. — Translator. 



I-*| 



NOTE 

Connected with the Chapter on Agriculture, p. 37. 

The following Extract from " Chambers' Edin- 
burgh Journal" for July of the present year, is 
worthy the attention of Jamaica agriculturists, as 
also of those in tropical climates in general : — 

" In .November last a notice of a new African grain 
was read before the Linnnean Society of London by 
R. Clarke, Esq., senior assistant-surgeon to the co- 
lony of Sierra Leone. 

" According to Mr. Clarke this grain, which is 
called 'fundi,' or 'fundungi,' is cultivated in the 
neighbourhood of Kissy village, and in other parts of 
the colony, by industrious individuals of the Soosoo, 
Foulah, and other tribes, by whom it is highly prized. 

" The fundi is a slender grass with digitate spikes, 
and grows to the height of about eighteen inches. 
The ear consists of two conjugate spikes, the grain 
being arranged on the outer edge of either spike, and 
alternated ; the grain is attached by a short peduncle 
to the husk, from which it is easily separated. 

" The grain, which is cordiform (or heart-shaped) 
and about the size of mignonette seed, is covered by 
a thin fawn-coloured membrane ; and when freed 
from this membrane is whitish and semi-transparent. 
It is highly glutinous, and has a delicate flavour, be- 
tween that of rice and kiln-dried oats. 

" Its mode of culture is extremely simple. It de- 
lights in light soils, and requires no manure, and is 
very prolific. It is eaten both by Europeans and na- 
tives, and is highly valued as an article of food. Mr. 
Clarke is of opinion that could it be raised in suffi- 
cient quantities it would become an important article 
of commerce, as it would prove a highly valuable 
addition to the list of light farinaceous articles of 
food now in use among the delicate and convale- 
scent. From the specimen furnished by Mr. Clarke, 
the fundi grain appears to be quite as delicate as 
arrow-root, while it possesses a more agreeable fla- 
vour than sago, potato-starch, and other similar pre- 
parations." 

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